Innovation guru Clay Christensen lays out a compelling argument for innovative operations when disruptive technology gains wide scale adoption.

In a recent New York Times article, he presents steam powered engines and online education as models for industry disruption. If the best of advanced water tech is going to recast water management, how will things look when it gets going?

“Nascent technologies always underserve their customers. As they mature, the opposite happens: they overserve, with bells and whistles customers are less willing to pay for.” Only then do a few leaders emerge with a “just right” technology offering that replaces a dominant industry.

“The lessons from any number of industries teach us that those that truly innovate — fundamentally transforming the model, instead of just incorporating the technology into established methods of operation — will have the final say.”

Water innovation is clearly at the nascent stage of underserving.  I am convinced that the big winners from the crop of emerging growth companies today will be “overserving” and evolve into “just right.”  That means product engineering, with a strong understanding of how to provide a total solution, is critical for success.