Organizations that empower folks further down the chain or try to get rid of the big hierarchal chains and allow decision making to happen on a more local level end up being more adaptive and resilient because there are more minds involved in the problem.

Chance favors the connected mind.

If you look at where innovation - defined as ideas, not as commercial product - tends to live, the university system is remarkably innovative.

We need to play each others instruments.

It may not be possible to 'win the future,' in President Obama's words, but if we're going to encourage more innovation, it's not enough for us to just dig in and work harder. We also need to encourage surprise and serendipity. We need to play each other's instruments.

As much as we sometimes roll our eyes at the ivory-tower isolation of universities, they continue to serve as remarkable engines of innovation.

Those that regularly come into contact with people having diverse interests and viewpoints are more likely to come up with innovative ideas.