Disruptor: How to Challenge the Status Quo and Unlock Innovation

By Alex Gonzalez

Every organizational leader tasked with spurring growth faces fluctuating markets and changing consumer behaviors. It's no longer enough for them to avoid complacency. Today, forward-thinking creatives, entrepreneurs, and executives must strive to actually evolve and unlock innovation.

In Disrupto

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ripples Media llc
• Release date: Aug 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987713327

Alex Gonzalez

Alex Gonzalez is an expert in innovation, strategic marketing, change leadership, strategy, and transformation with more than twenty-five years of business and leadership experience spanning corporate, entrepreneurial, and civic organizations.Currently, Alex is the Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, where he works with corporate leaders, marketers, creators, entrepreneurs, and founders to grow and promote the eighth-largest region in the U.S. He is a member of the Fast Company Impact Council, an invitation-only collective of innovative leaders and the most creative people in business. A purposeful, driven, optimistic, and adventurous leader, Alex is all about creating opportunity and growth for other innovators.

Book preview

DISRUPTOR

How to Challenge the Status Quo and Unlock Innovation

Alex Gonzalez

Ripples Media

Copyright © 2023 Creative Growth Ventures,  LLC

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.  For more information: [e-mail]

First printing 2023

Book cover designed by Joe Miranda

Book interior designed by Andrew Vogel

ISBN 979-8-9877133-0-3 Paperback

ISBN 979-8-9877133-1-0 Hardback

ISBN 979-8-9877133-2-7 E-book

Published by Ripples Media

www.ripples.media

For the Disruptors in my life—

my wife Mandy, and our boys,  Chris,  Ben,  and Will.

Nothing else matters.

ACCOLADES

Alex Gonzalez brings intellectual curiosity to the topics of culture and leadership. In this book, he uncovers the unique set of traits that disruptive leaders must have and shares how those qualities shape the most innovative and creative companies.

BEN CHESTNUT, Co-Founder, Mailchimp

Being comfortable with ambiguity and leading with a vision are necessary if you want to be a change leader. Alex tells inspiring stories of leaders who push past uncertainty to shape and advance creative change. Read it to get empowered and comfortable with innovating, especially if the outcome isn’t clear.

MELISSA PROCTOR, EVP and CMO, Atanta Hawks and State Farm Arena

Innovation is only possible when individual leaders take risks and bold actions that challenge the status quo of an organization. This book is a perfect guide and source of confidence for any leader who wants to drive sustainable change in their company.

BETH COMSTOCK, Former Vice Chair and CMO, General Electric

"Alex Gonzalez has a brilliant mind that connects the power of creative thinking with the pragmatic realities of business. Disruptor brings forward the importance of creativity for anyone looking to challenge norms in their business. It’ll empower you to think more broadly through a format that is filled with inspiring stories, credible experiences, and practical outcomes."

FRANK PATTERSON, CEO, Trilith Studios, and Professor, Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts

Innovation is the job of every leader, no matter what role you play in the organization. This book will challenge you to face your own fears of taking risks, offering the courage and a plan to challenge how things have ‘always been done’ in your business. Through this book, Alex acts as an excellent coach for any leader looking to unlock innovation in their organization. 

CATIE GRIGGS, President of Business Operations,

Seattle Mariners

No matter the size of your business, if you’re a leader who wants to drive fundamental and lasting change in your organization, you have to start with innovation. Alex explores the behaviors, skills, and actions needed. He takes an honest look at what it means to take risks as a leader, and the behaviors and skills necessary to unlock innovation. This book is an essential read for entrepreneurs and corporate leaders alike.

STEPHANIE STUCKEY, CEO, Stuckey’s

Alex believes everyone has a story worth telling and his superpower is bringing those stories to life. That artfulness is on full display in this book, which discovers the common insights from startups across different stripes. I wish I had this book when I started my first company.

MARC GORLIN, Founder and CEO, Roadie, Inc.

Alex comes from corporate. He has worked in the startup world. And he’s lending that experience to a civic role. And that’s what makes him so credible. He knows firsthand how hard change can be. People inside these organizations may push against creative ideas. As they do, the innovators put themselves at risk. But Alex shares with them—as he shares throughout this book—one reality: progress hinges on the disruptors.

JAY BAILEY, President and CEO,

H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs

FOREWORD: THE PURSUIT OF DISRUPTION

My innovator story has been anything but traditional. But isn’t that the nature of being a disruptor? We do things in new ways because how it’s always been done is unsatisfying, unproductive, or worse.

In my experience, doing this kind of work can produce success in the traditional sense—positions, money, awards, commendations—but that’s not why I did it. I’ve learned that if you have it in you to push against the status quo, you’re doing it for a more significant reason. It’s too hard and risky otherwise.

Disruptors think outside themselves for the greater good, they move with a desire to change history, and they relentlessly pursue something better for humanity.

It’s hard work, and it might not come with awards. In fact, it’ll probably get you knocked down. But there are times when the work is big enough to change the course of history or create something that can outlast you. And that is what will make you accept the risk. We’re driven by a little voice in the back of our minds reminding us that what we are doing could shape and change the lives of people we’ll never meet—maybe the lives of people who are not even born yet.

I’d like to think that I have the heart of a disruptor. And I know that my good friend Alex Gonzalez does.

Right now, as he is putting this book out into the world, Alex is working in a role that’s literally shaping a growing region into a global paragon of innovation, creativity, inclusion, and technology for fast-growth startups and major corporations. Alex has a purview that nobody else has. And he’s using it to get the right people on board. Working from massive boardrooms, lively accelerators, creative studios, and university offices, he guides corporate, startup, creative, university, and community leaders to think about how innovation can happen.

As he calls them to reinvent what thriving business looks like, he challenges them to disrupt how things are happening now. Alex comes from corporate. He has worked in the startup world. And he is lending that experience to a civic role. And that is what makes him so credible. He knows firsthand how hard change can be. People inside these organizations (especially corporations) may push against creative ideas. As they do, the innovators put themselves at risk. But Alex shares with them—as he shares throughout this book—one reality: progress hinges on the disruptors.

I met Alex when he and I were both in the early days of our current roles.

Alex had just taken the role of Chief Innovation Officer for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. I was starting my work as President and CEO at H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (better known as RICE). I’d invited him to tour a 50,000-square-foot empty, dusty building that would become the country’s preeminent innovation center for Black entrepreneurs.

At the time, it was little more than building materials and a vision. But Alex could see it. In fact, Alex was one of the first to see it. He understood the dream and how important it would be. If our region was going to attract and grow business and culture that would really put us on the map, we had to build a specialized resource for Black entrepreneurs. We had a big gap to fill. RICE could do it with the proper support. I believed we could, and Alex was one of the first to believe with me.

I knew from that moment that Alex had the dreamer’s perspective and the disruptor’s spark. We’ve been friends and collaborators since.

His ability to see past a dusty, gutted building to what could be and his willingness to come alongside me to do the hard work ahead lifted my spirit as an innovator. He has provided glimmers of light and hope that I have held on to as I’ve worked to position RICE as one of the only philanthropic endeavors of its kind. This work has been relentless. But we share an obsessive desire and willingness to do it for our community. The partnership has gotten me to conversations I wouldn’t have had otherwise and brought ideas to life.

Let me back up. Long before I met Alex and joined forces with him to build this transformative center for innovation, I had to take my own journey from success to significance.

When I was nineteen, I bought my first house. I earned my first million at twenty-three. At twenty-eight, I lost everything. I’d taken big entrepreneurial swings that had succeeded and then brought me to my knees. That lesson was fuel. It showed me that we begin in darkness and sometimes find our way back there. But innovators have the spark and drive to find and use the light.

I never had what I needed to get started. But I saw possibility, and I was willing to do the work. Disruptors are why the hell not people who dream when others are practical. It’s in me, and it is in Alex.

Alex is an authority on innovation. And in this book, he gives you a front-row seat to what it looks like to see and pursue disruption.

Throughout Disruptor, Alex shares his experiences, including his current position at the epicenter of a rapidly-changing region, his time in leadership at GE during its innovation heyday, and his childhood as an immigrant. And he offers an impressive litany of stories from some of the most impactful brands in the world, including Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A, and Mailchimp.

Through everything he recounts, Alex creates a living profile of a disruptor. You’ll gain an understanding of the traits you need to have and the behaviors you need to take, including customer obsession, a visionary drive, and the courage to accept risk. This book will help you understand how you can move your organization toward real, lasting, positive change.

No matter where you are positioned in the organization, you will gain a sense of how to use creativity, courage, confusion tolerance, diversity, and friction to bring others into your vision. It’s a guide and action plan for challenging the status quo.

Through his work and with this book, Alex is reinventing leading innovation. Through my work at RICE, I am too. And if you’re reading this book, chances are, you’re positioned to do that as well. Let’s go.

Jay Bailey

President and CEO, H.J. Russell

Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs

INTRODUCTION: DISRUPTION NEEDED

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas bills itself as the most influential tech event in the world.  Thousands of executives, founders, investors, innovators, technologists, and journalists gather every year in the Nevada desert to discover or feature the latest tech innovation.  The largest electronic, digital, and tech companies in the world seek to prove they are on the leading edge of innovation.

So why did Delta Air Lines, the largest airline in the world with almost 100 years in existence, take center stage of CES in January 2020?  Many airlines are just about logistics. They seem almost like a utility as you navigate massive airports and complex networks.  But Delta CEO Ed Bastian knew that innovation and technology were key to the future of Delta’s growth as it provided market-leading customer experiences and enhanced airline operations. Delta was making market-leading investments that would bring augmented reality, exoskeleton robot suits, and artificial intelligence into the mainstream of running an airline. Ed wanted employees, customers, and other stakeholders to think of Delta as an innovative tech company. He knew that CES would be a great platform to do so.

Ed was not new to navigating Delta through change. Prior to becoming CEO of Delta, he had been the president of the airline after serving as Chief Financial Officer.  Over the course of his tenure in those roles, Ed was instrumental in navigating Delta through tumultuous times.  He helped the airline navigate out of bankruptcy while fending off hostile takeover bids from rival airlines and combatting deep discount competitors in the United States.  While leading the airline through the Great Recession, he and his leadership team successfully executed the merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines to create the largest airline in the world. In 2016, Ed became CEO of the airline and became a visible leader within the company and a familiar face to millions of travelers as he greeted Delta passengers on the pre-flight safety video. He positioned the company as an innovative industry leader relentlessly focused on customer experience.  This was the message that Ed conveyed at his featured keynote address at CES. 

Ed is an innovator, change leader, and disruptor.  You may ask how a corporate executive with an accounting degree who spent much of his career on the financial side of business can be a disruptor.  That is the point.  A disruptor who challenges the status quo to unlock innovation is not defined by their degree or experience, rather by the behaviors that enable them to reject complacency and inspire innovation in those around them.

* * *

Every organization needs to evolve. Markets fluctuate, consumer needs change, work styles evolve, and the economy expands and contracts. Your customers, competition, and the world are not standing still. Without change and innovation, you not only may fall behind; you may become irrelevant.

Innovation is a term used extensively in the hallways, conference rooms, and offices of companies large and small. There are innovation departments, chief innovation officers, innovation seminars, innovation processes, books, and classes. The term gets used so much that if you are not careful, it can fall victim to the powerful force that exists within every company—the status quo.

The status quo is pervasive because it is how we preserve the current state of affairs. It is how organizations (purportedly) preserve normalcy and stability. One frequent argument for maintaining the status quo is that years of doing something a certain way is proof that what has worked in the past still works now.  According to the status quo, we should preserve history, and there is much to learn from the past. The problem is, in a dynamic business environment, the status quo can be dangerous because it can create the perception that normalcy does not permit change. The status quo does not account for adapting to the realities of business and changing market dynamics. It can fundamentally stifle the growth of an innovative environment.

The status quo is not necessarily bad, and stability is needed within an organization. But it is important to recognize that doing things the same way can also ruin stability by allowing change to happen to you instead of you controlling change through your own efforts and innovation. Left unchecked and unchallenged, it can become a force as powerful as a black hole.

A black hole is a cosmic body with such intense gravity that light can not escape. While it is difficult to directly observe a black hole, it is possible to see the effects of its gravitational pull on objects around it. You may not see the black hole, but you can see planets and stars being absorbed by it. That is how the status quo and complacency can impact a company.  It may not be obvious, but you may find complacency setting in without knowing why. It might be a gradual increase in lost customers or a gradual slowdown in new products. Whatever the case may be, it is the impact of that gravitational pull of the status quo and complacency. It will absorb everything around it.

The status quo is powerful because it feels safe (although it is not) and maintaining it is often encouraged by short-term rewards and compensation systems in place at many companies. In other words, people do not commonly