Whitney Johnson - 12 Nov

Praise for Disrupt Yourself and Whitney Johnson

Playing it safe is not safe in todays fast-paced marketplace. Disrupt Yourself is a must-read for anyone looking to stand out from the crowd and pursue innovation in our highly uncertain business climate.

Eric Ries, best-selling author of The Lean Startup

I have used the word disruption to understand how some companies blossom while other wither. Whitney has applied the word in a different contextto understand why some individuals succeed in remarkable ways. Enjoyed this book!

Clayton M. Christensen, Harvard Business School, New York Times bestselling author of The Innovators Dilemma

If you have gone through your career thinking that it is smarter and safer to stick with what you know, get ready to have Whitney Johnson change your mind. Often what we already know can get in the way of what we dont know. Disrupt Yourself will inspire you to make the jump onto new learning curves, innovate, and stay at the top of your game.

Liz Wiseman, best-selling author of Multipliers and Rookie Smarts

Disrupt Yourself reads like a handbook for innovation: it shows the incredible value of recognizing what you are good at and finding unexpected ways to apply those strengths to the marketplace. The dramatic jumps that Johnson encourages us to take truly form the basis of creativity and success.

Steve Wozniak, cofounder, Apple, Inc. and chief scientist, Primary Data

Too often were told that to be successful in leadership or business, we must fit a certain mold. Whitney Johnson knows better. Applying the lessons of disruptive innovation to personal growth, she shows us how to pursue roles suited to our own strengths, to follow our own unique way of thinking and doingand to dramatically increase our productivity, creativity, and happiness.

Susan Cain, New York Times best-selling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Cant Stop Talking

Wow! Disrupt Yourself wins the plain English awardwhich is to say Ive seldom if ever read a better written business/career development book. The advice is compelling, clear-as-a-bell, research-based, and actionable. And itll work as well for a fortysomething as a twenty-something.

Tom Peters, best-selling author of In Search of Excellence

A motivating, compelling case for shifting gears right when weve reached our peaks. Whitney Johnson not only explains the why and how, but cheers us on along the way to greater meaning, learning, and innovation.

Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times best-selling author of Give and Take

Leaders at all levels are often reminded that continuous learning and personal growth are key to successful careers and meaningful lives. In Disrupt Yourself, Whitney Johnson shows how to pursue them, purposefully building a foundation to keep oneself and others learning, changing, and thriving in the long term.

Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor of organizational behaviour, INSEAD

Whitney Johnsons Disrupt Yourself provides clear guidance that will help you both boost your career and become a driving force in market evolution. Her innovative approach proves that staying true to your own strengths can be groundbreaking, and often take you further than following established paths. I highly recommend this book.

Michelle McKenna Doyle, SVP, CIO, National Football League

You already know that to have the careerand lifeyou always wanted, youll need to be innovative, take risks, and spot and seize opportunities. But how do you actually do any of those things? Because its not at all obvious to most of us. Luckily, Whitney Johnson knows exactly how disruptive innovation gets done, and her brilliant new book Disrupt Yourself is the how-to guide youve been waiting for.

Dr. Heidi Grant, Columbia Business School, best-selling author of Nine Things Successful People Do Differently and No One Understands You and What to Do About It

Disrupt Yourself

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION

Disrupt yourself

Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve

Whitney Johnson

Harvard Business Review Press

Boston, Massachusetts

HBR Press Quantity Sales Discounts

Harvard Business Review Press titles are available at significant quantity discounts when purchased in bulk for client gifts, sales promotions, and premiums. Special editions, including books with corporate logos, customized covers, and letters from the company or CEO printed in the front matter, as well as excerpts of existing books, can also be created in large quantities for special needs.

For details and discount information for both print and ebook formats, contact .

Original edition published 2015

Harvard Business Review Press edition 2020

Copyright 2020 by Whitney Johnson

Disrupt Yourself is a registered trademark (TM) of Whitney Johnson. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to , or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.

The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the books publication but may be subject to change.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Johnson, Whitney (Whitney W.), author.

Title: Disrupt yourself : master relentless change and speed up your learning curve / Whitney Johnson.

Description: Boston, MA : Harvard Business Review Press, [2019] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019029441 | ISBN 9781633698789 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781633698796 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Success in business. | Disruptive technologies. | Career changes. | Organizational change. | Strategic planning.

Classification: LCC HF5386 .J655 2019 | DDC 658.4/09dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019029441

ISBN: 978-1-63369-878-9
eISBN: 978-1-63369-879-6

The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992.

To my husband, who always says jump

Contents

Acknowledgments

J odi Kantor of the New York Times once told me, The first place I go in a book is to the Acknowledgments section.

Me tooso here goes.

To Clayton Christensenthank you for the opportunity and privilege of working with and learning from you for nearly a decadeyou inspired me to write this book. You inspire me to be a better person.

Thank you to Erika Heilman and Melinda Merino for championing this new edition. After a long journey that began with an article in Harvard Business Review (thanks to Sarah Green Carmichael and Alison Beard), these ideas have come home; this book is right where it should be. A big shout-out to Scott Berinato, Anne Starr, Stephani Finks, Julie Devoll, Felicia Sinusas, and Sally Ashworthit is a pleasure and delight to work with you.

A huge debt of gratitude to my business partner, Amy Humble, for bringing this edition to life. You have a brilliant strategic mindand you always see the glass as half fullthat is a gift. Thank you to editors Amy Jameson and Heather Huntyou are indispensable, alternatively editors, therapists, and cheerleaders. To Sarah Green Carmichael, my former editor at