In the early stages of innovation, your goal is to learn as much as you can as quickly as you can.

Leaders today face challenges for which they are utterly unprepared.

The curious company studies the anomalies or the unexpected findings. The company that isn't curious ignores them or punishes people who don't do exactly what they set out to do.

Of course, it is worth it to take the time to think carefully through your assumptions, and ensure you at least have hypotheses around how you will create value. But use the analysis as a way to focus attention on the most critical assumptions, rather than spend a ton of time massaging the numbers.

Another key role the CEO plays is to focus efforts.

Think about how much it costs to learn more. Sometimes you want to build confidence by knocking off the easy things.

Almost every disruption starts at the perceived fringes of today's market.