Disruption is a ghost that haunts executives. Everyone talks about it, but it stays abstract until it hits their P&L. Leaders aren’t blind but trapped in their own success.
The signals aren’t weak. Across studies, nearly two thirds of companies say their core business is already under threat. And this pressure isn’t coming from a single direction. Technology is accelerating, geopolitical tensions are reshaping markets, environmental limits are turning into operational constraints, and social expectations are shifting just as quickly. These forces don’t act in isolation. They reinforce each other, creating a level of speed and intensity we haven’t experienced before.
And yet, when I sit in executive meetings, I see a different reality. Leaders and organisations are actively exploring new opportunities. Innovation initiatives are in place, new technologies are being tested, and future topics are clearly on the agenda. At the same time, the core business is still performing well. Revenues are stable, margins hold, and the existing model continues to deliver. This creates a subtle but powerful tension: exploration happens, but often only at the edges.
This is where the real paradox emerges. While disruption is widely acknowledged, it rarely translates into meaningful change at the core of the business. And while the pressure to transform is increasing, disruptive outcomes are not evenly distributed. Instead, they are concentrated on a small number of player who are significantly faster and more effective at turning ideas into scalable impact, while in most organisations, the response takes time to unfold. And that’s where the risk lies.
If disruption only becomes real once it hits the core, you’re already too late.
So the real question is: how do you bring the future forward, before you’re forced to respond under high pressure?
Don’t wait for disruption. Stage it.
In my work across industries, I’ve seen how quickly things change once organisations move beyond discussion and start to test under real conditions.
What often starts as a small, structured experiment has more impact than expected. In sandboxes and real-life labs, new solutions are exposed to real users, real constraints, and real consequences, not in theory, but in practice. This creates a pragmatic way to explore what disruptive change could actually mean for your business.
In the healthcare space, I have tested new, holistic therapy approaches with real patients under controlled conditions. In urban development projects, I have staged new, cutting-edge energy solutions with residents in their daily lives within clearly defined legal environments. In both cases, the goal was the same: to understand how these approaches are received in practice and where existing frameworks need to evolve.
Suddenly, future scenarios are no longer abstract. They become visible, tangible, and discussable. These environments don’t just simulate how disruption might affect the core business before it happens. They generate evidence. And that evidence becomes the foundation for faster iteration and more informed decision-making.
Lead the business today and re-think it at the same time.
In many leadership initiatives I’ve been part of, the intent is clear. Leaders understand that their business needs to evolve. They support innovation programs, sponsor new ideas, and engage with future topics.
But when decisions start to affect the core business, a different logic takes over. What gets measured and rewarded is the existing business, because it delivers revenue today and appears more predictable. Exploration, in contrast, often lacks clear criteria and is therefore less protected and easier to deprioritize. Not because leaders don’t care, but because the system around them is built for certainty, not for learning.
Leading the future means holding two perspectives at once: to run today’s business with precision while actively shaping it for tomorrow. This goes beyond supporting innovation in principle. It requires clear priorities, protected time for experimentation, and the willingness to make decisions before everything is fully clear.
Just as important, what you learn in pilots, customer co-creation, or sandboxes needs to shape your core business instead of staying at the edges. It’s not about choosing between execution and exploration, but about doing both consistently.
If your structure can’t move, neither can you.
Many companies are still set up for stability. Clear ownership, fixed roles, linear decision paths. All of this creates efficiency. And all of it works, but only until the pace of change increases. Then the same structures start to slow things down.
In fast-changing environments, the question is how to build an organization that can constantly adapt, behaving less like a machine and more like an organism, able to respond, adapt, and reconfigure as conditions change.
What does this look like in practice? Teams form around opportunities, not functions. Ownership shifts with the problem, not the org chart. Decisions happen closer to where information and data are generated. This doesn’t make things less complex. But it changes how quickly an organization can respond.
And that’s the real trade-off. Structures designed for efficiency often become a constraint when adaptability starts to matter more. The goal is not to remove structure, but to design it in a way that allows movement.
This is where a different way of thinking about uncertainty becomes relevant. Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes systems that don’t just withstand shocks but improve because of them. He calls them “antifragile.”
Courage starts earlier than you think.
Business models rarely fail overnight. They erode slowly while still delivering results. As long as performance holds, change feels optional. But disruption doesn’t arrive gradually. It shows up all at once, especially when early signals are ignored. By then, the room to act has already narrowed.
That’s why the future belongs to organisations that adapt earlier, not because they predict better, but because they act sooner. They test, learn, and let new insight shape real decisions.
That takes courage. Acting not when things break, but when they still work. When the numbers look good, but the underlying logic begins to shift.
Because in the end, business models don’t expire when they stop working. They expire when they stop evolving. Don’t wait for the market to force your hand. Stage your disruption. Evolve, or expire.
About Verena Kuen
Verena Kuen is Founder and CEO of 1030 Innovation Partners, advising organizations on how to navigate disruption and translate uncertainty into strategic advantage. She works closely with senior leaders to build innovation capabilities that enable continuous adaptation and business model evolution. Her work bridges strategy, leadership, and real-world experimentation for scalable impact.
References:
AlixPartners, Disruption Index 2026, 2026
World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2025, 2025
McKinsey Global Institute, Superstars: The Dynamics of Firms, Sectors, and Cities Leading the Global Economy, 2018
Taleb, N. N., Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, 2012
Mag. Verena Kuen
Founder
1030 Innovation Partners
+43 676 5580632
