CEOs have way more angst about disruption than their non-CEO colleagues

“Disruption” has been the byword of business since Clayton Christensen published his widely-read and too-widely-interpreted book The Innovator’s Dilemma in 1997. Every company is either disrupting or being disrupted, and the game is to make sure you land in the former camp. 

That’s why the folks at consulting firm AlixPartners five years ago started an annual Disruption Index. They picked a good time for it. In the years that followed, business was hit by an office-shutting pandemic, supply chain chaos, intense talent shortages, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the worst inflation since the 1970s, and an onslaught of technological change topped off last year by generative AI. What more disruption could you ask for? 

This year, there is good news: The AlixPartners Disruption Index, based on a survey of global executives, has dropped from a peak of 79 in 2022 to 72 in 2024. But don’t think that is a reason for complacency. The survey included 296 CEOs, and their disruption angst remains significantly more elevated than their non-CEO colleagues. 63% of them fear their own executive teams lack the agility to navigate today’s pace of change (compared to 35% of non-CEO executives), 59% worry their employees “tend to be too set in their ways and not open to change” (compared to 34% of non-CEOs), 61% acknowledge that “my company is not adapting fast enough to stay ahead of disruption” (compared to 33% of non-CEOs), and 78% said “it is increasingly challenging to know which disruptive forces to prioritize” (on that, 58% of non-CEOs agree.) Disruption still rules the C-suite. You can read the full report here.

And thanks to all who responded to my Friday list of the best CEOs of 2023. I had a couple of correspondents argue I shouldn’t include any CEOs who conducted layoffs during the year—which would cut Microsoft and Alphabet. One CEO wrote in to nominate, with good reason, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, who is also riding the weight-loss drug craze and has earned a 258% gains for shareholders in the last three years (and double that since taking office.) Another offered up Walmart’s Doug McMillon, a greatly admired leader who is committed to people and planet and has done an amazing job showing that a brick-and-mortar-retailer can keep pace with tech-led Amazon. But he can’t compete with the others in return to shareholders.

By the way, Fortune’s Matt Heimer noted that my top five CEOs all have admirably long tenures—Jensen Huang has been CEO for 30 years, Jamie Dimon is approaching 20, Satya Nadella is approaching his 10th anniversary, and Sundar Pichai is not far behind. Lars Jorgensen is the newbie of the group, having taken office in January 2017. These CEOs seem to be navigating disruption quite well.

More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

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This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.