Whitney Johnson, management thinker: “Companies do not disrupt, people do”

Whitney Johnson is one of the world’s most influential management thinkers. Best known for her work on driving corporate innovation through personal disruption, she has been invited by The American Campus (TAC), a new university to be launched in January 2017 in Mauritius. News on Sunday met her during her stay here.

It is your first visit to Mauritius. What is the objective behind your visit here?

Yes. It is indeed my first trip to Mauritius and I am here as part of the launch of The American Campus (TAC). This mission is very important to establish the university in Mauritius and making possible to not only know more about it but also, to make people get more access to education. Moreover, on Friday afternoon, we will be conducting a workshop on ‘Disrupt Yourself’ which is based on one of my books. The focus during the workshop is how you can use principles of disruptive innovation and apply them to individuals, to careers and to businesses. Participants will be free to ask questions and discuss on issues related to innovation.

You have bagged the title of one of the World’s Most Influential Management Thinkers in 2015. What have been your achievements so far? 

There is a group in London where every year, they make designations of the most influential thinkers in the world. It is done on a basis of what you have written, what you have spoken about, how you much you are reported in the media and the influential ideas you bring to companies. Then, they come up with a list of 50 Top Thinkers and I have been included on the list. I believe this achievement is due to the combination of having worked in field and analysed issues and being able to bring my own professional experience in ‘Disruptive Innovations’. Actually, companies do not disrupt, people do. If you want to drive innovation inside of your organisation, you need to make sure that the people themselves are able to innovate. Only then can innovation take place.

Mauritius is an open economy trading with large economies like Europe, China, the USA and across the world. How can a small open economy like ours compete with these big countries in terms of innovation? 

When you look at my framework on disruption, I looked at seven variables that contribute to innovation. One of the variables is to play on your distinctive strengths and to play on a field where others are not playing. Instead of trying to compete with China and Europe in what they do well, compete in what you do well. For example, Mauritius has a beautiful landscape in terms of beaches and natural attractions that the UK doesn’t have. Mauritius has a mix of languages, cultures, ethnicities and a very strategic position in the Indian Ocean that other countries do not have. Therefore, Mauritians must value these benefits and take advantage of these factors and play in a way whereby other big economies cannot. You need to do what you are best at. In order to be innovative, it is important for a country, a company or a person to be willing to play where others are not. 

What are the challenges that a country or a company can face in order to ensure innovation? 

When you are at school and you see a classmate scoring more marks than you in Maths, you are somehow likely to make an effort to do better and compete with him/her. But still, you can’t because you are not as good at it. Therefore, according to my theory, you are six times more likely to be successful and you are 20 times more likely to generate revenue if you are willing to play what others are not. For example, Mauritius is good in tourism. Therefore, you cannot compete and bring innovation in other sectors you are not good at. 

What are your views regarding the victory of Donald Trump in the presidential elections?

Sadness. There are so many good and capable people in the United States and I am sad because he is really not very kind and above all, sexist. It makes me sad that the people of our country decided to make him our leader. But the good news is that according to US legislations, he cannot be a dictator. 

Do you think that there has been an improvement in the participation of women in the corporate world, be it in the US, Mauritius or other parts of the world?

It is much better that it was years ago but we still have a long way to go. If I look at the opportunities that I had versus the opportunities that my mother had, there has indeed been a big improvement. She could be a nurse, a teacher or a secretary. Those were the job prospects that a woman had. However, today there are much more job prospects for women even in male-dominated sectors. We have to keep moving forward.