Popular culture prevails, and within that framework fragments of many thousands of meanings exist—and we all contribute to them. That has resulted in the division of standard macrocultures (“American culture,” “Japanese culture”) into many microcultures (“Hipsters,” “Goth”). Indeed, shifts in the macroculture happen when the habits and preferences

Chris Zook’s research at Bain & Company demonstrates how pivotal looking under the hood can be. He found that about 9 out of 10 companies that successfully renewed themselves built that renewal on hidden assets. It is all about seeing what potential is there that is taken for granted or underleveraged. That means that you have to go back and look

Individuals can be change makers, and the micro results can turn into macro movements when people naturally recognize the benefits. Small changes eventually add up to a groundswell.

Chance favors the connected mind. —STEVEN BERLIN JOHNSON

Long showers, soaks in a tub, long walks, or doing chores are frequently when those “synapses” that find alternative solutions to a problem in new ways all hit together so that the big idea can spring. These things remove us from the task-based focus of modern life—bills, e-mail, housework—and put us in a more “associative” state.

we deal with limited information happily, as if it were all we need to know, and build the best possible narrative from that. The better the story, the more we tend to believe it.

Innovations that evoke a “that’s what I’ve been looking for” response in consumers will capture an audience.

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. —WOODROW WILSON

To harness strategic intuition, you have to leave the subject and the facts and stop thinking so hard about them. The literal presence of mind that comes when you clear your brain of all expectations is what usually precedes a flash of insight. That flash gives you the power to come up with and act on an idea.