Is your board ready for seismic realignment? Four things directors must understand now about growth and disruption.

• Author: Blount, Sally
• Position: GUEST COLUMN

It seems that "growth agenda" has become the new business watch phrase for the 20th century concept of "corporate strategy." This may be because sustained growth -many would even say survival--will require a level of competitive vigilance unimaginable to the 20th century authors of "SWOT analysis" and the "growth-share matrix."

This point was driven home for me not long ago at the Kellogg School's annual conference on corporate governance. My key takeaway from this year's convening was the connection between long-term growth and disruption--disruption at a pace that is truly breathtaking. As EY Global Vice Chair of Strategic Growth Markets Maria Pinelli reminded us, "Two-thirds of the leading companies today will likely not be market leaders within five years."

This means we can forget evolution and survival-of-the-fittest. This century is about seismic realignment, potentially every three to five years. Beyond the ever-changing technology and demographic shifts that we've been talking about for 20 years, consider three core ways in which markets have been relationally transformed since 2010:

1. Mobile has become the 21st century "Main Street"--shaping how people buy everything from groceries to transportation. Think about how people now use Yelp, Amazon, Uber and Airbnb to find what they want to buy and get where they need to go. And it's not just how people buy that has changed; paying has changed as well. Teens and 20-somethings now routinely exchange money directly via bank accounts and cell phones. Many don't own credit cards; debit cards are passe and cash is history. Today payments are quickly shifting to products like Square, Apple Pay and Chase Quickpay.

2. Wireless sensors are changing how people make decisions and manage their lives. Be it fitness trackers, garage door openers, or home heating, Internet-connected sensors are changing what people know and when they know it--about ourselves, our friends, our families and co-workers. They're telling us what to eat (or not, think the Lose It! app), when to rest (think Sleep Cycle), when to walk or run (think Fitbit), and where you left your car keys (think Tile). They can even track your heart rate and blood sugar. And corporate-issued "wearables" have the potential to help companies track employees, machines and power grids, monitoring their activity and productivity within seconds.

3. Social media has transformed how human relationships, communities and markets form and operate...