Rather than trickling new innovations from the edge to the core, is it possible, rather, for the edge to dominate? The creative thinking of John Seely Brown, Deloitte Center for the Edge Independent Co-Chairman and former Chief Scientist of Xerox PARC, seeks to bring this flavor of creative thinking to the corporate world. He cites, as example, conservative business software solutions company SAP, and its internal transformation through a thriving social development network.

By appropriating knowledge and thinkers from a broader scope of learning - i.e. exposing more "surfaces" - John Seely Brown, Independent Co-Chairman from the Deloitte Center for the Edge, states that knowledge from outside a field of expertise can be banked and extremely valuable to stirring up innovation in one's own sector. He cites an example of one man who travels to a far-flung conference every year simply to strategize and learn to think outside his comfort zone. Taking an interest in energy (a field outside his own), he created programs and legislation that yielded effective results.

Entrepreneurship isn't just a sport; it's extreme. John Seely Brown, Deloitte Center for the Edge's Independent Co-Chairman, paid attention when suddenly five of the globe's top aerial surfers originated from the same place. Why the sudden regional success? Though fierce competitors, they all knew one another and collectively benchmarked from other surfers. They recorded and studied one another's achievements and flaws, and appropriated ideas from adjacent verticals, such as skateboarding, mountain biking, etc. Collectively, they improved their personal performance, and simultaneously built up the local ecosystem en masse. Seely Brown points out these passion-fueled tactics and suggests that entrepreneurs use this model to expand their personal performance and build success to benefit their business community.

Within the guilds of this popular computer game, real innovation is taking place. Thousands of new ideas happen daily through crowdsourcing. In addition, all performance is measured and critiqued, both as a group and individually. Guilds also work collaboratively on larger projects, allowing for radical, exponential learning and results. Deloitte Center for the Edge's John Seely Brown encourages business thinkers to use the practices of the game as a strategic model for building better innovation.

Success is based on more than just luck. By choosing the right kind of environment and cultivating the practices that will help find new ideas, one can take inspiration from unlikely sources. Furthermore, deep listening with reciprocity - meaning not only digging for good ideas from others, but offering them back in return - is a valuable skill to nurture. John Seely Brown, Independent Co-Chairman of Deloitte Center for the Edge, believes that this is the way that powerful and valuable relationships are built.

With just ten people and as little as $50,000, new garage-based enterprises that used to require hefty start-up costs and infrastructure can grow larger and more productive with fewer resources than ever before, says Deloitte Center for the Edge Independent Co-Chairman John Seely Brown. Entrepreneurs in the 21st century need to think about taking advantage of advanced tools like cloud computing and social media to progress at a pace - and with such lean, muscular resources - previously unimaginable.

Over the last 65 years, returns on assets have decreased about 75 percent; indicative, says Deloitte Center for the Edge Independent Co-Chairman John Seely Brown, that the old guard of doing business is no longer viable. Whereas companies used to be guaranteed longevity if they made it into the S&P 500, nowadays many survive there only five or ten years. The 21st century is qualitatively different, says Seely Brown, with new technological institutional mechanisms forcing new business practices.