How do you think it feels to be a part of the news and information industry, and to watch while Twitter (TWTR +0.00%) roils the entire sector without even intending to?
Ditto for providers of stand-alone navigation devices. One day they're motoring along in a hot industry, and the next day Google (GOOG +2.00%) (GOOGL +1.71%) throws up a giant pothole with turn-by-turn navigation. On your phone. For free.
The scary thing is that neither Twitter nor Google set out to disrupt these industries. It just happened as they tried out new technologies in seemingly unrelated businesses.
Paul Nunes is executive director of research at Accenture's Institute for High Performance, and co-author of Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation. He says Twitter and Google epitomize the new age of disruption. Companies like them are so innovative that they can take down entire industries without even targeting them. In this video from the International CES in Las Vegas, Nunes explains a bit more about big-bang disruption, and what investors should watch for in order to identify a Twitter-in-the-making.
