Are you losing hope? If so, you're not alone. We're constantlybeing bombarded with bad economic indicators and exhaustingpolitical yammer from the left and right—neverendingly delivered,in real time, by our social media masters. It's enough to wear downeven the most optimistic proponents of hope: that intangible laudedby religion, Hallmark cards and certain political campaigns.

And it's taking a serious toll. A recent study by theNational Small Business Assn.finds that 60 percent of small business owners feel confident aboutthe future, down from 75 percent in December. Moreover, 34percent believe there will be another recession in the next year,up from 14 percent in December.

Thrive? Grow? Fuggetaboutit. In today's business environment, ifyou can survive and maintain—in other words, if you can keeprunning in place fast enough—you're one of the “lucky” ones.

But it takes more than survival to move ahead and meet thefuture; it takes disruption.

Here's an example: According to the Kauffman Foundation, from 1996 to2011 the number of baby boomers starting a business increased bynearly 7 percent, the largest increase among all age groups.

This isn't necessarily happening because the entrepreneurs havegotten smarter over the years—although there's that—but in largepart because the jobs they once thought they'd retire from havedisappeared. For many, the disruption of a job loss was the impetusto launch their own business.

So what's the secret to creating good disruption?

According to a recent Forbes study of the world's mostinnovative companies, the leaders of these organizations—includingFabrizio Fredaof Estee Lauder, S.D. Shibulal of Infosys and Jeff Bezos ofAmazon—have five “discovery skills” that keep them engaged:

1. They ask provocative questions.Continuously asking “why?” is the hallmark of a curiousfive-year-old, an investigative reporter and a successful businessperson.
2. They observe the world “like anthropologiststo detect new ways of doing things.” Personally, I'dreverse the order of the first two traits because the more youlearn about something, the more questions will come up. And I lovethe qualification here of observing the workings of the world notas some self-proclaimed expert or insider, but as ananthropologist–weighing, comparing, analyzing and keeping an openmind.
3. They network “with people who don't look orthink like them.” This is huge, IMHO. Imagine for a minuteif everyone, not just business executives, took the time to dothis. Instead of preaching to the proverbial choir, we'd actuallybe engaging in civil discourse. What a concept.
4. They experiment with new ideas andexperiences. Experiments often fail. But no greatinvention was created without them. Real leaders can't be afraid tofall on their faces sometimes.
5. And then they use these behaviors to trigger newassociations, which help them connect the unconnected—andproduce disruptive ideas. I just love this. Creativewriters who are stuck with a plot point that doesn'twork or plain-and-simple writer's block are encouragedto ”put a bear in the boat”–that is, introduce a wildlyunexpected element to whatever isn't working to jog some realcreative thinking. If it works in the fictional world, it can workin the real one.

Add up all these elements and you have a recipe for leaders whoare creative, confident and supported enough to look beyond whatcurrently works to see what could work even better. This isespecially important in a world that's changing as quickly asours.

Although there's something to be said about carefully consideredand implemented processes and the “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”philosophy, following in anybody's footsteps isn't the same asblazing an original trail.