Breakthrough thinking is a concept that deserves more respect. As the term suggests, it breaks out of traditional thinking patterns. Traditional thinking is a system of dependable, comfortable and proven patterns. If change, myopically focused on a single goal, is the object of your quest, your future is tragically limited.

 A rising demand for innovation undermines the effectiveness of routine thinking patterns and their predictable results. But, a desire to achieve breakthroughs is not enough to overcome the inertia of historic thinking patterns.

Edward de Bono, perhaps the leading authority on creative thinking processes, has created effective methods to foster breakthroughs. These processes cultivate divergent thinking patterns. Another key element is an open mind which will recognize breakthroughs when they present themselves. (See Habit - the enemy of creativity)

In a recent paper titled, “Accident, Intention, and Expectation in Innovation Processes,” Professors Robert D. Austin of Harvard Business School and Lee Devin of Swarthmore College explore how “fortuitous accidents play a role in discovery and invention.” They categorize different types of accidents or situations in which accidents have resulted in innovation. They also observe that artistic minds tend to cultivate opportunities for accidents which result in unique solutions.

"In our field research in a theatre company, we came across the following expression of this tension by a staff member:

[Art] needs to provide the experience of making the impossible possible. Making the impossible possible, even in the arena of make-believe or pretend, does something to your brain. It allows you to envision—not plan—that’s completely different. Planning is an activity that involves weighing pros and cons, taking into consideration available resources, and coming up with a strategy to achieve your goals. The things you are able to plan are those things you see as being possible. Impossibilities never make it to the planning stage. Whereas envisioning involves faith in a maybe and a belief in the chance that the maybe can become a yes."

History is full of examples of products that were intended to be or do something other than the successes they became. One highly visible example was the drug, sildenafil citrate, which generated $1 billion in revenues for Pfizer in its first year. The original intent of its developers was to control high blood pressure for men suffering from angina. The accidental breakthrough came when an unexpected side effect triggered a new realm of possibilities and an entirely new market. The product was renamed Viagra.

The critical link in a successful innovation initiative is an open mind for accidents. Rigid, planned processes that focus on outcome only will overlook or dismiss the potential ideas which intersect or diverge from the path of discovery.

The realm of possibilities is endless. The real tragedies are a mind unwilling to explore freely, an attitude unable to accept the unexpected, and organizations which undervalue the potential accidents. When Edison invented the phonograph, he was trying to create a method for capturing telephone conversations. His former career in telegraphy led him to believe that there should be a tangible record of every conversation. He accidentlly invented the recording industry.