Embracing disruption is how you can keep energy flowing through your life and business.
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I’ve spent much of my life in the fast-paced world of technology startups, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people are naturally afraid of change. We crave sameness, certainty, and the safety of our “comfort zone.”
But years ago, a trip to the Swiss Alps completely transformed my perspective on what it means to be disrupted. In the remote hills of Linden, I met a community that lived by a singular, profound philosophy: Without disruption, there is no motion.
More than a spiritual soundbite, this idea is rooted in the very laws of the universe. In the late 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton penned his First Law of Motion, or The Law of Inertia: “Every body remains in a state of constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.” In other words, if you are moving at a steady, comfortable pace, you will stay exactly where you are forever—unless something hits you. I think about this physical reality constantly.
The Snow Globe Effect
Think of your life or your business like a snow globe. When it sits on the shelf, it’s static. The particles are settled, and the scene is clear, and may, in fact, be serene; picture-perfect. But it’s inert. It’s only when you pick it up and shake it—causing total chaos—that the particles begin to move. For a moment, everything is a blur, but as those particles settle, they find a new orientation. The globe clears, but the motion has changed the environment.
As Francis, a member of that Swiss community, told me, “Understanding the First Law of Motion on a human level helped us envision it on a technological level. If we could keep the disruption going, we could also keep the energy flowing.” This community embraced literal and figurative disruptions—what Newton called “unbalanced external forces”—rather than fearing them. They understood that while change is often uncomfortable, it is the natural order of the universe.
The Gift of the Global Reset
We all felt this on a massive scale in 2020. The pandemic was a collective, global disruption that acted like a “reset” for humanity. Almost overnight, the “unbalanced external force” of a virus knocked us out of our constant velocity. We went from deciding where to eat for the weekend to wondering if it was safe to send our children to school.
At first, we were paralyzed. But during those early lockdown days, that disruption caused motion. It forced us to innovate. At Arria, it propelled us to find new ways to communicate complex data through our COVID-19 Live Dashboard, helping to democratize information for people who were scared and uninformed. If we hadn’t been disrupted, we might have stayed static. Instead, we used that motion to bring us forward.
From Creative Artist to Tech CEO
I’ve seen this pattern in my life and throughout my career. In my teens, I became an artist, teaching myself how to use an airbrush in my attic studio. I’d spray, fail, and tear off the page, thinking, “I’m one step closer to succeeding.” Early in my career, I understood the power of leveraging my “right-brained” (creative) skills alongside my “left-brained” (analytical) love of math. Modern neuroscience shows that both hemispheres work together for almost all complex tasks. When I joined PaperDirect as Vice President of Creative Marketing, I put this into practice. Successful catalog design must be guided by response rates, sales results, and margins. One without the other would deliver lower response rates.
The analysis of volumes of spreadsheets to surface data insights became my “art director”. That spreadsheet was my “unbalanced external force.” It disrupted and expanded my identity as a “creative” and forced me to see numbers as a language (albeit, I would discover, an elegant one). This understanding became a strategic brand philosophy and an important strength when co-founding both Diligent and later Arria, where I discovered the power of language.
This is actually one of the most fascinating aspects of human cognition. Language is the bridge between creativity and analysis. It doesn’t simply communicate thoughts; it shapes, organizes, and extends them. For Arria, this is especially relevant because it sits at the intersection of analytical data and human understanding.
Why We Must Surf the Waves
There is an old saying: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” In business and in life, when a disruption strikes—whether it’s a job loss, a financial hardship, or a technological shift like generative AI—your first instinct might be to resist. But resistance leads to inertia.
As an unwavering believer in innovation, I invite you to shift your lens. Don’t see the upheaval as an obstacle (or something to fear). Instead, see it as the energy you need to move to the next level. When you are disrupted, you have the chance to grow, pivot, and evolve.
We are currently witnessing the greatest renaissance in human history, driven by the rise of Natural Language Technology. Yes, it is disrupting how we work, but it is also “unburdening” us from robotic mental labor. It is the force that will allow us to become superhuman.
So, the next time your world gets shaken like a snow globe, don’t panic. Embrace the motion. Cast fear aside, welcome the “unbalanced force,” and trust that you are being propelled toward your own necessary evolution. Without that shake, you’re just a scene on a shelf. With it, you are part of the perpetual motion of the universe.
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