The capacity to creatively improvise is an important factor that differentiates successful companies - or teams - from those that are not successful.

In a large pharmaceutical company, where it's a big bet, you're going to need finance people to be involved in the decision-making because the investment can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. You're going to have to run scenarios. You might even need agreement from the C.E.O. to make that type of decision. If it's an incremental, low-cost decision in a marketing-oriented company, it may be a very different set of stakeholders a lot further down in the organization.

The larger the price tag, the more you have to adopt what I call the postmodern management approach. What I mean by that is that you have to use everything when you make a decision.

You are able to create an environment so that the creative process can take place and that you can get people to perform at their highest levels.

The mark of the developed intellect is that it could accommodate two contradictory ideas at the same time.

Ultimately, the impresario must know when to simply get out of the way.

You are able to monitor and police your standards of quality once you have defined them.