Dr Sharron McPherson, senior lecturer at the UCT Graduate School of Business and co-founder at The Centre for Disruptive Technologies, unpacks the one key element that differentiates successful companies today.

Author Safi Bahcall introduced the term "loonshots" to describe ventures with game-changing potential that nobody thought would work and whose champions were ridiculed.

What skills do you need to develop new technologies and enter new markets? You need, of course, to be able to turn technical innovations into great products. But new research suggests you need another skill: the ability to learn.

Xiaomi’s leadership team idolised Steve Jobs. Now, it seems the student has become the master.

Prototypes are a great way to get customer feedback about elements of your proposed innovation before you have to invest a ton of resources in them. But there is a bit of science to how you draw the lessons a prototype can teach you.

Research finds that the drivers of creativity vary by country and culture – so leaders need to know which levers to pull.

How did a DVD-by-mail company transform itself into a leading global entertainment brand? By rejecting mediocrity, embracing negative feedback and turning hierarchy on its head.

If great ideas were born simply by putting a bunch of people into a room with pizza and a whiteboard, then everyone would be doing it. In reality, however, it’s not that simple.

While scientists and big pharma work on vaccines, innovations and solutions developed at the community level will be key to slowing the spread of the virus.

While COVID-19 is expected to wreak havoc on the SA economy, the full extent of this is yet to be determined. But even in crisis, there are always opportunities for innovation.