--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When product performance outstrips the…" description: "\"When product performance outstrips the ability of customers to use that performance in an industry, the competitive game changes. Under those circumsta..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/clayton-christensen-2433_ability_when-product-performance-outstrips-the-a_1047790.png" --- # When product performance outstrips the ability of… ![“When product performance outstrips the ability of customers to use that performance in an industry, the competitive game changes. Under those circumstances you have to decouple components businesses from assembly businesses.” quote by Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/clayton-christensen-2433_ability_when-product-performance-outstrips-the-a_1047790.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/clayton-christensen-2433_ability_when-product-performance-outstrips-the-a_1047790.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/clayton-christensen-2433_ability_when-product-performance-outstrips-the-a_1047790.png) > “When product performance outstrips the ability of customers to use that performance in an industry, the competitive game changes. Under those circumstances you have to decouple components businesses from assembly businesses.” [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When product capabilities outpace user ability, businesses must separate component creation from assembly. **In simple terms:** Tech outpaces users. Key Takeaway Decouple product parts. Themes innovation technology market dynamics Mood analytical strategic Type theoretical business. When to use this quote - product design - customer training - industry strategy Key Concepts Disruptive innovation product architecture Questions to Reflect On - How to bridge skill gaps? - When to restructure business? A Different Perspective Customers may resist change, slowing adoption. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Assembly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assembly/) [Assembly Businesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assembly-businesses-2488407/) [Circumstances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstances/) [Components](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/components/) [Components Businesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/components-businesses-2488406/) [Customers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customers/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Industry Competitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry-competitive-2408166/) [Performance Outstrips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performance-outstrips-2488408/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Product Performance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/product-performance-2411472/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) ## Related quotes > [“They have come across an aspect of product performance about a brand that is startlingly impressive: that a Land Rover is designed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-morgan/they-have-come-across-an-aspect-of-product-performance-about-a-brand/) [Adam Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-morgan/) > [Music industry is a very competitive field, and one has to continuously entertain and excite the audience, which is a difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-honey-singh/music-industry-is-a-very-competitive-field-and-one-has-to/) [Yo Yo Honey Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-honey-singh/) > [Things in the industry get too competitive. In that pressure, you tend to lose yourself. So, it's important to have someone to turn to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaal-mallik/things-in-the-industry-get-too-competitive-in-that-pressure-you-tend/) [Amaal Mallik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaal-mallik/) > [I think in any industry, it is competitive. There are a certain number of slots out there and opportunities out there. So you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominique-dawes/i-think-in-any-industry-it-is-competitive-there-are-a-certain-number/) [Dominique Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominique-dawes/) > [The industry is competitive; I can't get every job, that would be ridiculous. 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For Locke, liberalism means limited government, the rule of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-boghossian/liberalism-is-a-creation-of-the-seventeenth-century-fathered-by/) [Peter Boghossian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-boghossian/) > [To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/to-that-world-assembly-of-sovereign-states-the-united-nations-our/) [John F. 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To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/she-went-from-opera-park-assembly-play-to-morning-walks-and-prayers/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [ Mac \[Barnett\] and I prank each other during our presentation. We show baby pictures of each other looking completely ridiculous. I can't believe the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jory-john/mac-barnett-and-i-prank-each-other-during-our-presentation-we-show/) [Jory John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jory-john/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) ## More by Clayton Christensen > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [In our lives and in our careers, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly navigating a path by deciding between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/in-our-lives-and-in-our-careers-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-we/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Many of the factors that we think will cause motivation, such as fair pay and a good manager, won't make you love your job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/many-of-the-factors-that-we-think-will-cause-motivation-such-as-fair/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [People in private equity complain that they have so much capital and so few places to invest. 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I commend to all this same search for happiness and for the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/this-is-why-i-belong-and-why-i-believe-i-commend-to-all-this-same/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [I think this is one reason why the Lord invented the Internet - so members can teach one another how to succeed in assignments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/i-think-this-is-one-reason-why-the-lord-invented-the-internet-so/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Because these firms listened to their customers, invested aggressively in new technologies that would provide their customers more and better products of the sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/because-these-firms-listened-to-their-customers-invested-aggressively/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [At the beginning of almost every industry, the available products and services are so expensive to own and complicated to use that only people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/at-the-beginning-of-almost-every-industry-the-available-products-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Management has to provide the coordinating mechanism between what the supplier provides and what the user needs in not-good-enough situations where product architecture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/management-has-to-provide-the-coordinating-mechanism-between-what-the/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [When you're thinking about your next product or current product and wondering how to make it different so you don't have competition, understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/when-you-re-thinking-about-your-next-product-or-current-product-and/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) [Explore all 166 Clayton Christensen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When product performance outstrips the ability of customers to use that performance in an industry, the competitive game changes. 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