Constructive Disruption
Constructive disruption, a term coined by Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer Mark Pritchard, refers to the process of “changing in a meaningful way that leads to competitive advantage and creates value for retailers, investors, employees and consumers alike”.44 The concept, originally intended for conceptualization in a business and consumer market capacity, has interesting applications to sustainability and climate change. Disruption can carry with it a sense of negative upset or chaos, connoting a process or system going off track. The addition of ‘constructive’ into this paradigm refocuses disruption as a process not of destruction but of growth. Constructive disruption emphasizes critical examination of the status quo and supports innovation that ultimately leads to a more productive system.45
While conventionally applied in the world of business and profit maximization, this chapter portrays constructive disruption as valuable to understanding the processes required to move from the dominant system of values and actions on climate change to an emerging more sustainable system. The Two Loop Model, as introduced earlier in the chapter, presents the theory that dominant systems go through periods of growth, decay, and death in order to make way for an emerging system.46 In order to make this leap from dominant to emerging, pioneers and innovators form communities of practice to transition to a new system of influence. In this step constructive disruption can add a new dimension to the process. The appreciation that a system is broken and that we must address it in order to transition is a significant hurdle and coincides with the notion of transformative resilience. Those who have bought into and profit from the current system have limited to no motivation to transition towards an emerging one.47 This becomes the sticking point of The Two Loop Model as the period of transition requires buy-in from the collective in order to develop into an emergent system. Constructively disrupting the dominant paradigm in a way that reveals its failures in the long-run makes change a necessity and, hopefully, reveals the collective benefit.
There is, however, capacity for this fine balance to be swayed from constructive disruption to destructive disruption. The means by which these systems transform is important.
Recognize constructive disruption as a necessary part of the processes of transformation and change
Blaine Grinder discusses how colonization created a certain system that people are still benefiting from and how this system needs to change and adapt to re-focus on Indigenous voices (1:34)
Disruption as an Opportunity for Transformation
Continuous disruptions in ecological systems consistently establish the need for increased resilience, proactivity, and adaptability in order to properly respond to these disruptions. Researchers suggest that there will likely be an increase in social-ecological crises as pressure from the effects of climate change continues to increase.48 As disruptions become increasingly more common, the ability to frame these disruptions as opportunities for transformation will increase concurrently. Framing disruption as an opportunity for rethinking contemporary paradigms and challenging existing models allows room for much needed increases in resilience, proactivity, and adaptability.
Case Study: Havelock North in New Zealand
Social-ecological crises and associated disruptions are likely to become more frequent as public infrastructure comes under increasing pressure from the effects of climate change, urbanization, increasing consumption, and natural hazards.48 Thus, insights from previous disruptions in social-ecological systems can inform future efforts in resilience and adaptation. In May of 2017, the town of Havelock North in New Zealand faced an unprecedented drinking water contamination event and public health emergency.
Following this drinking water crisis, researchers used this disruption as an opportunity to understand how communities can successfully respond to ecological change. To examine these efforts, a transformative learning framework was applied. According to Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, the most common way to initiate change in an individual’s perspective is to initiate this through a jolting, disruptive experience, or form of crisis.48
Findings from this study indicated that ecological disruption did cause a shift in perspectives for small business owners. Following initial shock and disorientation from disruption, the following themes emerged: realization of inextricable connection to natural systems, financial impacts, mistrust of local authorities, change and adaptation in business practices, and expectations of local authorities in water management.48 These individuals developed a deeper awareness of their connection and dependence on natural systems, eventually leading them to adapt their current water use practices to more resilient systems.48
With the implementation of a reinvented socio-technical water supply system, residents of Havelock North demonstrated their capacity to use this ecological disruption as an opportunity to learn and transform into a more successful and resilient system. As the climate continues to change and pressure on social-ecological systems increases, new efforts in resilience and adaptation will continue to emerge from these changing paradigms and offer opportunities such as these to create meaningful change.
Dr. Bob Woollard discusses complex adaptive systems and the importance of working together (1:47)
