Business people don't need to understand designers better. They need to be designers.

Design isn't just about making things beautiful; it's also about making things work beautifully.

The virtue of small-to-midsize companies is that they tend to be more flexible and it is easier to experiment with new ways of working. So just try to tackle one problem you're really struggling with, together with your team. Get started and see what happens. Chances are you will be happy with the outcome.

I was blown away when I figured out that none of the great integrative moves that I studied came as a result of starting with a blank sheet of paper - as many innovation coaches suggest. Integrative solutions came directly from mining the existing models for the best of their nuggets. So I never start with a blank sheet of paper anymore.

The status quo is more tenacious than anyone would ever imagine. The human mind prefers continuity rather than change. So it really has to be committed to eliminating a bad habit to even start down that path.

Typically to get toward a productive outcome in negotiation you have to make the initial move of genuinely exploring someone's model. If you don't, it is unlikely that they will be willing to explore yours. And if you genuinely explore and understand theirs - without judging it - they will be willing to explore yours. Once they reach that point, they are primed to explore the productive combination of both models and won't be as obsessed about trying to make sure their model prevails.

You need to be uncomfortable and apprehensive: True strategy is about placing bets and making hard choices. The objective is not to eliminate risk but to increase the odds of success.