Forbes has just published a story on how Raytheon is using disruptive innovation to reinvent and extend its missile business. Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, vice president of  Corporate Engineering, Technology and Mission Assurance, chairs Raytheon’s Disruptive Technology Council. We talked with him recently about its mandate.

Q: What is disruptive innovation?
A: Disruptive innovation is when a company in a leadership position refuses to become complacent with its success and, instead, works to reinvent itself by discovering the next iteration of the technology that has made it successful. In the case of our missiles business, for instance, Raytheon is using disruptive innovation to enable the development of directed energy weapons and solutions for its customers.

Q: Besides self-disruption, does Raytheon engage in any other kinds of disruptive innovation?
A: Yes. In addition to understanding how we ourselves might be disrupted by others, we need to work to disrupt our competitors in the marketplace. We also need to help our customers disrupt their adversaries as the nature of conflict changes from the battlefield to more urban ops.

Q: What is Raytheon’s Disruptive Technology Council?
A: The council’s mandate is to identify and fund seedlings across the enterprise. In essence, we are looking for entrepreneurs from across Raytheon who want to work to disrupt our business, and we want to encourage that work. We look at dozens of ideas because we know that only a select few will make the cut. By investing in disruptive innovation, we’re investing in the company’s future.

Q: Isn’t there a risk associated with working to disrupt yourself?
A: The greater risk is in not doing it. You need to be ready when your customer wants to move in a different direction or invest in a new capability. Sometimes that means doing development work on spec to get there before they do.  If they want light bulbs and you’re still making candles that’s a missed opportunity.

Q: What types of future technologies is Raytheon investing in?
A: In addition to directed energy, which is covered in the Forbes article, Raytheon has made some exciting advances in chip design, see-through-the-wall technology and Gallium Nitride (GaN) to name just three. As a company we are committed to making significant investments in core technology discriminators.

*The content on this page is classified as historical content. See this important information regarding such content.