For years, innovators have valued disruption above all other things. Their sentiment could be summed up in the phrase, "move fast break things." Break things they did. Facebook has come under fire for letting foreign actors manipulate public opinion, allowing bad actors such as Cambridge Analytica get their hands on millions of users' data and even helping people organize massacres. Youtube has come under fire for allowing the spread of conspiracy theories, Uber has come under fire for breaking regulations and creating a toxic work culture.
As the Media turns against technology companies, as regulators start flexing their muscles, and as cries of anti-trust action become audible, it seems like the age of disruption for its own sake might be at en end. Innovation is not going anywhere, but if future innovators want to avoid backlashes, they should first think about the potential consequences of the change they're creating.
Read a bit I wrote on Innovation Game - Outflank your competitors
To get some more information on the innovation game of our era.
If future innovators, entrepreneurs, and even startups want to avoid backlash, they should try to think more like dystopian science fiction writers, such as one of my favorites Charlie Brooker, the writer behind the popular techno-dystopian TV show Black Mirror. They should try to imagine the potential adverse effects of their innovations, and plan ways to mitigate them before the blowback hurts their businesses or even our own world.
We do not want a world like Altered carbon or mute Read this post for more information Mute - A Cyberpunk Show / Decentralized Dystopia
Although the show Black Mirror focuses primarily on how technology could create dystopian stories, Brooker has said "that the humans who use technology cause the problems, not the technology itself."
Please have a look out for a post on the Black Mirror Effect
