To break or burst; rupture.

30 May 2012/1 Comment/in Embrace Disruption Blog /by Cory Stewart

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If I could list the few important things I’ve learned in my 28 years on earth, I’m sure I’d come up with 100+ really valid life lessons. The problem is: tomorrow, I’d probably alter at least 100+ of them to reflect different learnings. My generation is living in a world of change. A world where you can go to bed, and in the morning, there’s a new game changing movement swept into our iPhones, Androids, iPads, laptops (and ok, blackberry’s too). A world where social media, email, and even day to day chatter revolves around the newest creations destined to change our lives for the better.

As a young marketer in this space, I feel as though I spend a lot of my time just catching up on the latest buzz words, techy miracles, and filler articles on mashable.com. There’s nothing wrong with this, but I have to say: working in a strictly online world can be a huge mistake. Throughout time, we’ve evolved from the pigeon carrier, to telegrams, to sending letters by post, to email, and finally to tweets. But one detrimental piece is missing: good old fashion mouth to mouth. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that preface their conversation with “Hi I’m [insert name here], and you can follow me at [insert twitter handle here]“. Immediately, that tells me a few key facts: a) I know your name, b) before we even begin to forge a relationship, you feel it necessary that I follow your minute by minute broadcasts to the world. Don’t get me wrong: twitter is a powerful tool, and don’t get me started on networking. But when did we reach the point that it was no longer acceptable to acknowledge each other, and really learn what the person before us was all about. Granted, I love following people- and I’m all for adding to the daily content I see when logging in for the day – but it’s the person behind the text that I find much more interesting.

Disruption is defined as:

dis·rupt (ds-rpt)

tr.v. dis·rupt·ed, dis·rupt·ing, dis·rupts

1. To throw into confusion or disorder: Protesters disrupted the candidate’s speech.

2. To interrupt or impede the progress, movement, or procedure of: Our efforts in the garden were disrupted by an early frost.

3. To break or burst; rupture.

I feel that definition needs some updating. Disruption is a test. A test of our agility, street smarts, adaptability and strength. Disruption is a reality of today, and it’s not going away any time soon. I’m making a vow to embrace disruption, and make it work for me – and there’s no time like the present (’cause who knows what tomorrow brings).

Hi, I’m Cory Stewart and you can follow me at @coryjstewart.