Following the models of successful businesses does not lead to innovation, but just to more of the same. If you are following a previous model, what you should be asking yourself is: "How can I disrupt the status quo?"

Most companies are not capable of creative innovation because they are too busy attending to day-to-day routines, and are therefore lacking any real intuition as to what new actions will achieve the desired results.

Most people do not ask the right questions. They stay mired in detail and have trouble looking at the issue from 50,000 feet away. That requires stepping back from the issues and allowing yourself half and hour or so to quietly go about framing a whole new set of questions.

Big companies tend not to reward or appreciate "disruptive innovation," but to rather focus their efforts on how best to mitigate and limit risk.

CEO's may want to break through to new ground too, but are often discouraged by the seeming impossibility of penetrating an intransigent corporate culture. If your boss is among them, he or she needs to know that you have the ability to go beyond such unspoken constraints.

When employees are excited and enthusiastic, creativity and innovation will follow. It is therefore important to staff any enterprise with passionate people, rather than those who are staid and conventional.

When enthusiasm, creativity and innovation come together, sustainable profits result. Try visualizing them as three overlapping circles.