25 Discussion Questions for The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (With Analysis) | Chapterly Blog
Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma is one of the most influential business books of the past thirty years, and its central concept — disruptive innovation — has become so widely used that it risks losing its precise meaning. The Innovator's Dilemma discussion questions push you to examine Christensen's original theory carefully, understand where it applies and where it does not, and evaluate how well it explains the technological disruptions of the past two decades. Whether you are in an MBA strategy class, a technology book club, or a corporate innovation team, these questions are designed for rigorous engagement. Published in 1997, the book examines why well-managed, successful companies that listen to their customers and invest in new technology can still lose their market position to smaller, less resourced competitors. Christensen's answer — that the very practices that make companies successful in sustaining innovation make them vulnerable to disruptive innovation — was revolutionary and remains widely debated. These 25 questions are organized by theme. The Innovator's Dilemma Discussion Questions: The Core Theory Christensen's theory of disruption rests on a genuinely counterintuitive claim: that good management practices cause market-leading companies to fail. These discussion questions examine whether this paradox holds up across...