We believe that this capacity for an organization to be a perpetual and radical innovator or a greater revolutionary, as I call it, depends really on three things. One of them is on individual competence. Just like we had when we were trying to embed quality, we had to teach individuals about statistical process control and per-ratio analysis. We now have to give people the new thinking tools that will allow them as individuals to imagine and edit and improve and champion rule-breaking ideas. The reality is there are very few people in organizations today who know how to think both creatively and coherently about either how do you radically change existing business concepts or how do you invent business concepts.
People tend to think either about a function or a job.
We have not yet taught them how to think in this new way. So that's where the training analogy is very apt. My bet is that over the next few years, hundreds of companies will train thousands of individuals in the disciplines and perspectives that are needed to make those people magnets or lightening rods for innovation. There's a lot more you can do now to get people mentally prepared for this. In the book, I talk about many of the routines and the perspectives that are required.