Behind every successful innovation is an unexpected insight. When it finds expression as a new business breakthrough, markets take off and competitors don't know what hit them. And yet, even at the best companies, most attempts at innovation fail. Lacking a systematic process for developing new ideas, organizations rely too much on the random inspiration of individuals.

Most people tend to think of innovation as invention. That is, invention is typically the creation of a revolutionary new material object that can do something useful, says Tom Koulopoulus, a Boston-based consultant and author of the new book “The Innovation Zone.”

Now's the time to be bold. And by that, I mean that it's time to be a radical innovator of products, services, and business models.