Business leaders need to tread carefully. The Blockchain gold rush is on and there is plenty of fool’s gold out there. However, just like the Internet, technologies such as Blockchain can have significant implications for your business and industry and should be taken seriously.
Blockchain is widely considered a “disruptive” technology, but is it? Is it really the technology or is it the innovative market concepts that we assume Blockchain enables that promise to upturn “traditional” industries? Why is Blockchain needed to enable any of the thousands of business concepts proposed and in flight? Can they be done without Blockchain? What is the value of Blockchain-enabled industry change? These are the questions that we pondered and explored with the many companies, entrepreneurs and pioneers that we engaged with at the Blockchain Solutions Forum in Barcelona last week. Here is the summary of our takeaways.
Like Blockchain itself, the Blockchain Solutions Forum is in its early stage of development. The visionary thinking and drive behind the businesses and applications presented at the conference and emerging from the Blockchain conversation are refreshing. No doubt something revolutionary will come of all this ideation and discovery, but our general impression is that there is a thick “Purple Haze” shrouding Blockchain. Progressive, visionary and defiant ideas will need to be tempered by holistic consideration of the pros and cons of Blockchain technology and industry realities, and distilled with the sensibilities of experienced technologist and business experts who have seen and lived through gold rush technology trends such as Blockchain before.
Implications For Business Leaders
Business leaders need to tread carefully. The Blockchain gold rush is on and there is plenty of fool’s gold out there, not just coming out of California this time. We are talking about a global, speculative frenzy. However, just like the Internet, technologies such as Blockchain can have significant implications for your business and industry and should be taken seriously. The ideal that the Blockchain community is placing their bet on is industry reinvention through disintermediation. As a business leader you should consider what your role would be in emerging visions of your industry reinvented. You will also want to consider the innovations in your business that can yield competing value for your customers and your industry to stave off any prominent Blockchain-enabled threat. Who knows, you might come up with an idea that revolutionizes your industry without Blockchain.