Seeing What's Next

Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Erik A. Roth

Narrated by: Joel Leffert

Seeing What's Next is a framework for predicting industry winners and losers. Every day, individuals take action based on how they believe innovation will change industries. Yet these beliefs are largely based on guesswork and incomplete data, and can lead to costly errors in judgment. Internationally renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen and his research partners, Scott D. Anthony and Erik A. Roth, present this groundbreaking guide for predicting outcomes in the evolution of any industry.©2004 Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Pretentious and Outdated

I really admire Clayton Christensen work and was amazed and inspired by his book "The Innovator's Solution". However, here the team is taking same basic theory and attempt to project it on the future of several industries and try to forecast their future. Reading (listening) to those prediction a dozen or more years later makes it all sound like a joke. Being wrong in so many cases, I am not sure they created a very good service to their theory, and I am sure they showed a company should not let a team of professors navigate it to the future.
Anyway, there were many insightful stories and some reviews of the theory and the way it should be reduced to practice, so it was not a complete waste of time.

Good info, old news

Interesting in 2023 heating about companies from a 2007 perspective. The process is still good. Information is still good but it seems ancient in today’s world.

amazing read!

this book introduces a framework to sense signals of change in an industry and to identify where lies best strategic direction

Being part of what's next is Accepting ones Call t

I'd like to duplicate this experience. Though the timeline seems to be 10 years old the amazing review of this slice of history creates an appetite for our disruptive learning curve.

Great Content, But Audio and Kindle Chapter Discrepancy is Frustrating

I truly enjoy the content of this book – it’s insightful, well-written, and engaging. However, I’ve encountered a significant issue when switching between the Audible version and the Kindle version. The chapter order in the Audible recording does not align with the Kindle chapters, making it incredibly difficult to navigate or pick up where I left off.

For someone who likes to switch between reading and listening, this discrepancy disrupts the experience. I believe this could be improved by ensuring the audio and Kindle versions follow the same chapter structure.

I really appreciate the effort that went into creating this book, but I hope this alignment issue can be addressed in future editions. It would greatly enhance the overall experience for readers and listeners alike.

Thank you!

Great narration, good content

Narrator was great, would definitely listen to him again... Content was interesting and gave some very good frameworks - such that I might even go buy the physical version.

A Lense for Understanding

I am a huge fan of Christensen’s work. These theories provide great insights on how different industry developments could play out. Leaders of legacy and startups should read and seek to understand how these theories can play out in their own industries.

Informative, but a bit dry.

The target reader of this book, I believe, would be people who invest in stocks and need to know all the variables that may cause companies to perform well or not. I think their point of view is very reasonable; explaining in large terms what motivates companies to compete for market share. The language is still just a bit abstract at times, with long, convoluted phrases, but it's still understandable. They cover many areas of business and describe real scenarios. Some of the examples are dated but don't sound farfetched, which would suggest that their theories may be feasible. I liked the book, and will likely listen to it again to see if I can get more out of it.

Dry, dated BUT informative

Would you consider the audio edition of Seeing What's Next to be better than the print version?

A very dry reading of a very dry book. Having said that, I cannot imagine I would have been able to get through the print version without falling asleep, over and over.

Sadly, no pdf of the charts and other items mentioned in the audio book are provided...it would be helpful if there was a way to access some of the tables and charts mentioned throughout the book.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Complex ideas are presented very matter of factly, requiring rewinds at times to really get the whole message.

Any additional comments?

While the examples in this book are very dated, the concepts are very good. As a company that is trying to innovate, this book provided some very interested frameworks to evaluate the approaches we might take.

dated content

What disappointed you about Seeing What's Next?

Main issue is the timeframe of the book late 1990's - early 2000s. As much of the discussion is impact of technology or innovation - makes it not too relevant as is too old.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment - loved the innovators series but this didn't really have much "meat on the bone"