Disruptive, a pernicious cliché

In The New Republic, Judith Shulevitz suggests that the business buzzword disruptive (brainchild of Harvard professor Clayton Christensen) is “the most pernicious cliché of our time.”

The “unsavory habits of mind” that Shulevitz sees in those who celebrate “disruption”: “an almost utopian faith in technology,” an assumption that “all public or nonprofit institutions are sclerotic and unable to cope with change,” and a distaste for genuine democracy. This brand of disruption operates from the top down.