Want to Disrupt It? Democratize It.

Here’s a staggering number. In Kenya, M-Pesa’s expected to shift 20% of the country’s nominal GDP.

Lesson? It’s the Democracy chapter of the Manifesto, plus a little bit of the Creativity chapter: pick an industrial age market or industry, and democratize it; liberate it from the strictures of plodding, ponderous, autocratic command-and-control organization. Better yet, pick a radically underserved market or category, and democratize it. Better yet, simplify complexity to add power to the punch. 

If one-fifth of Kenya’s GDP is shifted through a p2p transfer system so simple that the barely literate can use it effortlessly—but the developed world is subject to more and more severe crises because of industrial age banks—how long do you think it’ll be before this great contradiction collides with reality? If one of the poorest countries in the world can ignite a radical institutional innovation, how long do you think developed countries can keep rest on their tired, fading laurels? I’d suggest that all the above should strike a little bit of fear into the hearts into the people formerly known as the masters of the universe—because while they might not know it, they’ve just been checkmated. M-Pesa creates less volatile, transient, fragmentary, more authentic, enduring, meaningful value—where it’s needed most.

It’s a textbook example of the power of thick value, constructive advantage, and smarter growth—and it’s why you should think about getting some.