"WHO DISRUPTS THE DISRUPTORS? WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE TALK ABOUT INNOVATION"

"The culture of disruption’s American Dream 2.0—where you can both be the man and claim to be sticking it to him—glosses over the fact that the type of innovation venerated by disruption culture often works to keep white men in positions of power and strengthens our relationship to instant-access consumerism. More importantly, it lacks critical engagement with the processes of disruption and the values being advanced by those we call disruptors.

We need to, well, disrupt the language of disruption with a humanist perspective that evaluates technological innovations based on how much they make us better humans, how much they include marginalized groups in their definitions of success, and how much they shift us towards a society based on partnership rather than profit-focused silos...

Critical engagement with technology has also led others to imagine new paradigms for web platforms that build on the idea of collaboration, rather than disruption. As Belinda Liu, founder of the web platform HiveQuest, notes, “I really dislike the term ‘disrupt.' It’s a very male concept that is reactive to the industry paradigm rather than encouraging of the creation of a whole one.” Imagining a new paradigm for social networking tools, Liu created HiveQuest in order to allow users to explore personal questions such as “Why I am here?" and “What is my purpose?” and share that journey with their peers. Fusing the strengths of online learning and social networking, her goal is to create a space that encourages personal growth and meaningful connection."     

https://bitchmedia.org/article/who-disrupts-disruptors-changing-way-we-talk-about-innovation

This is a great reframing - disruption should really be understood as a secondary effect, there aren't a lot of situations where it should be the primary goal; the primary goal should be to build something that fulfills needs or provides something meaningful and productive. I guess it's kind of cool when it "disrupts" something, and good if it disrupts something that isn't working, but there isn't a reason why "disruption" is some primary measure of success or value.