Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy

9. Take Innovation Underground

You might call it your company's back-end operation, or the backstage exertions that make your company's onstage efforts possible. I call it your organization's underground.

I borrowed the concept of "underground" from the old Disney theme parks. Back in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, Disney theme parks were an arresting new concept, and customers were entranced by the magic and the fantasy that they enjoyed "above ground." For Disney, the revenues were huge. But a good part of Disney's financial success was due to the magic that went on literally "underground," where a massive inventory of costumes, props, materials, equipment, and back-office services (like laundry, personnel, and maintenance) were managed with exceptional ...