Following our post on the need to break patterns to create value, the example of Airbnb is quite interesting.
At the core, the concept is about breaking a basic survival pattern, repeated from generation to generation: don’t let unknown strangers in your house!
It was only by providing sufficient assurance that things will turn out fine that this pattern could be broken (thanks to the inter-mediation provided by the platform). However basically the value released by the platform is at the core, breaking a deeply ingrained pattern.
It is a bit the same with the more advanced Uber applications (survival pattern: don’t enter the car of an unknown stranger and be driven somewhere!) and most of the disruptive, successful companies that have emerged recently (for Google, the survival pattern was: don’t give all your personal information to an external company!).
Breaking patterns can thus release great value if properly done and with the assurance that safety is still provided. When do you start your own disruption?
