Here’s a great article taken from http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/06/women-are-the-great-disruptors/
Our world will continue to be driven by technology, and we simply cannot afford to leave women out in the cold. Women bring unique talents and perspectives to the table in any field, but they are particularly vital to a world of invention and innovation shaped by technology. What amazing products, processes, and bold leaps of thinking would we all miss out on if women couldn’t choose to disrupt the status quo? What if we were forcing some of our most brilliant minds away from technology? I personally do not want to live in a world created entirely by men!
Though it might be lonely and scary, here are three good reasons for disrupting yourself:
1. If, in the deepest part of your nature, you know that you must disrupt and you don’t, you’ll die just a little inside. Hence, what we call the Innovator’s Dilemma — whether you innovate or not, you risk downward mobility.
2. The odds of success are six times higher (up from 6 percent to 36 percent — so you still might fail, but the odds are tilted significantly in your favor) and the revenue opportunity is 20 times greater when you pursue a disruptive course.
3. As a woman, you have a disruptive edge. When conducting research on why women changed jobs more successfully than men, Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg learned: “Women build networks outside their organization that remain intact when they leave. … Not because women set out to [do this], but because they are often marginalized, left out of the internal power structure … they build external networks out of necessity.” In other words, women instinctively know how to play where no one else is playing.
Bottom line: If you want to unleash innovation, hire a woman. Better yet, invest in or start up a woman-led company.
According to a Dow Jones study, successful venture capital-backed companies have, on average, two times more women in the highest ranks. Indeed, these companies have a greater chance of either going public, turning a profit, or being sold for more money than they’ve raised.
We give a lot of airtime to building and buying disruptive companies. But I believe that harnessing this powerful mindset begins with the individual: Companies don’t disrupt, people do.
If you really want to disrupt the status quo, follow the advice of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and “go ask a woman.
Read more: http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/06/women-are-the-great-disruptors/
