Helen Salisbury: Disruptive innovation—technology is not the problem

Some technologies arrive gently, only gradually replacing what went before. This is what happened when motorised vehicles slowly challenged the dominance of the horse and cart. Others sweep in, and overnight the whole landscape changes. Can you remember trying to organise anything before email?

The term “disruptive innovation” was coined to describe this kind of transformative development, when a new product or service overturns existing ways of working and creates new markets.

In business there’s a tension between taking time to iron out the bugs in a new product and keeping ahead of your rivals. In healthcare, where the stakes are high, …