A Business Law for Looking Ahead
I’d like to formally state a business axiom which has been blindingly obvious to me for the last few years. I’m naming it Collins’ Law of Disruption. Here it is:
“Businesses that concern themselves with the efficiency of their operations will, in the long run, always be overrun by businesses that concern themselves with the value of their products and services.”
I think this law nicely sums up the totality of my understanding of modern business and lays out a predictable and testable path for the future of commerce. Either it’s true or it’s not, but it should be self evident (either way) within my lifetime.
The corollaries this Law are striking, but instructive. Here are a few that come to mind:
- Money, effort, and attention are better spent on building new and better products and services than on squeezing more out of the current offerings.
- Looking for efficiency is worse than looking for breakthrough.
- Any business that slides into pure profit-seeking behavior has given itself a terminal condition.
- A disruptive market force can wipe out any or all of the entrenched players.
I can think of no more valuable piece of business/entrepreneurial insight than my Law, as stated above, especially when looking ahead to an uncertain future.




