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

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

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

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

Here's an example: According to the Kauffman Foundation, from 1996 to 2011 the number of baby boomers starting a business increased by nearly 7 percent, the largest increase among all age groups.

This isn't necessarily happening because the entrepreneurs have gotten smarter over the years—although there's that—but in large part because the jobs they once thought they'd retire from have disappeared. For many, the disruption of a job loss was the impetus to launch their own business.

So what's the secret to creating good disruption?

According to a recent Forbes study of the world's most innovative companies, the leaders of these organizations—including Fabrizio Freda of Estee Lauder, S.D. Shibulal of Infosys and Jeff Bezos of Amazon—have five “discovery skills” that keep them engaged:

They ask provocative questions. Continuously asking “why?” is the hallmark of a curious five-year-old, an investigative reporter and a successful business person.
They observe the world “like anthropologists to detect new ways of doing things.” Personally, I'd reverse the order of the first two traits because the more you learn about something, the more questions will come up. And I love the qualification here of observing the workings of the world not as some self-proclaimed expert or insider, but as an anthropologist–weighing, comparing, analyzing and keeping an open mind.
They network “with people who don't look or think like them.” This is huge, IMHO. Imagine for a minute if everyone, not just business executives, took the time to do this. Instead of preaching to the proverbial choir, we'd actually be engaging in civil discourse. What a concept.
They experiment with new ideas and experiences. Experiments often fail. But no great invention was created without them. Real leaders can't be afraid to fall on their faces sometimes.
And then they use these behaviors to trigger new associations, which help them connect the unconnected—and produce disruptive ideas. I just love this. Creative writers who are stuck with a plot point that doesn't work or plain-and-simple writer's block are encouraged to ”put a bear in the boat”–that is, introduce a wildly unexpected element to whatever isn't working to jog some real creative thinking. If it works in the fictional world, it can work in the real one.

Add up all these elements and you have a recipe for leaders who are creative, confident and supported enough to look beyond what currently works to see what could work even better. This is especially important in a world that's changing as quickly as ours.

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

Special Reports /

Toops Scoops: Are You Ready for Some Disruption?

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