The Pattern of Progress

The Pattern of Disruption

It’s often assumed that ‘disruption’ is a uniquely modern phenomenon. But it’s not. Technology disruptions can be found at the heart of major societal and civilizational upheavals going back to even the earliest human settlements...

France is forgetting the most powerful force in the universe

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 2

Europe is in the middle of an energy crisis, with a shortage in the supply of fossil fuels causing painfully high energy prices. And today, French President Macron wants to revitalize nuclear to solve this challenge. But if you understand the pattern of disruption, you will see why this might not be so straightforward... 

How synthetic industries replaced natural sources and transformed the world 

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 3

When people figure out how to do something that previously only nature had done, this new technology can completely transform the possibility space for a sector while making old ways of doing things obsolete–and all in a surprisingly short period of time...

The disruption of slavery unveils fastest path to end today’s wars

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 4 

We are now at a crossroads in history, and no path forward looks pleasant. The war in Ukraine is killing innocent civilians, disrupting lives and shaking the markets in energy, food and other commodities...

The coming global fertilizer crisis—and how to solve it

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 5

A global food crisis is looming, with high natural gas prices driving up the cost of ammonia fertilizer and the war in Ukraine threatening this year's crops in both Ukraine and Russia The consequences of mishandling this crisis could be dire...

The shipping container disruption helped end famines

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 6

The basics of life–energy, minerals, water, food–are not evenly distributed around the world, so peace and prosperity depend strongly on the ability to move goods and people quickly and cheaply...

Dropping silk stockings created an oral health revolution

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 7

For most of human history, it was not routine for people to brush their teeth. But by the 1960s, majorities of most Western countries had a daily oral hygiene routine...

Rocket to the Cristal

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 8

By all accounts the crowds were buzzing with excitement one day in late October 1945 at Gimbels department store, located in Manhattan near the Empire State Building, to see the shiny new 'Reynolds Rocket'... 

Oral contraception doubled the sales of ballpoint pens

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 9

Russell Marker was a man who was good at finding answers and, in late 1941, he found in the book of a botanist friend an answer he had been seeking for a long time...

The boy who invented everything

The Pattern of Disruption: Part 10

An accidental discovery by teenage student William Perkin produced a purple-colored chemical never before found in nature. It opened the door to synthesizing pharmaceuticals, plastics and many of the other products of our modern world...