The innovation literature has discussed the construction of a common meaning in workgroups, with the influence of established shared understanding through feedback process that shape the construction of a new common meaning. On the other side, success of disruptive innovations have been linked to the capacity of individuals and organizations to radically shift the attributes of their established businesses. However there has been no study on the process of common meaning construction in the case of disruptive innovation. This paper investigates the role of common meaning on the success of disruptive innovations, in the case of an inter-organizational collaboration. Based on a case study with a consortium of 4 collaborating companies and using the theoretical framework of organizational learning, we distinguish two very different models: a domain-based common meaning and a domain- challenging common meaning. We discuss the managerial effects and conditions of each model, and show how the careful construction of a domain-challenging common meaning can enable a workgroup to produce disruptive outcomes.