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The Innovator's Dilemma: Book Review by Ed Ladd

Published on 9/9/2019
Clayton Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” was originally published twenty-five years ago. Upon initial release, this book was a stunning piece of research on why some companies became obsolete despite good management. The impact is similar to that of educators who read his more recent research based tome, “Disrupting Class.” But there is a key difference between these two works: the earlier book develops a theory of why some companies fail due to disruptive innovation although they are doing everything right in terms of listening to customers, improving product, and sustaining profits for a long time. The second book is also a theory but one that predicts the future of education in relation to the disruptive innovation of online learning. Both are thoroughly researched and well written, but I find the current reissued book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” a much harder read and one that is more difficult to apply to our thinking about schools and change.