(NAPS)-The executive who believes unacceptable risk invites opportunity is unlikely to build a business into a Fortune 500 corporation. Using similar reasoning, the executive who avoids risks in the pursuit of opportunities will not be able to perceive those risks because he is not looking for them.

To succeed, we have to open our minds without losing them. We have to question every boundary and principle by which we define our business. We must also commit ourselves to change the organization should those boundaries erect barriers — or blind spots — to the imagination. To achieve a true breakthrough, we must "break through" the way we perceive the world.

Break the mold — don't re-use it. Don't seek answers — ask questions. Truly new ideas, by their nature, tend to burst upon the landscape with tremendous force. To break through is to dive into a new reality, not redefine an old one.

I think a business is a lot like a sailboat, a self-contained entity afloat on a sea of infinite possibilities, whose captain and crew must evaluate and leverage their environment. Captain and crew must work together as a team and move the boat toward their desired destination. Any sailboat, regardless of size, must have three things to function: stability, direction and power.

The keel provides stability. It keeps the boat from drifting off course and tipping over. Stability is the security of business as usual. It is the world of finite possibilities, summed up by current infrastructure, customer relationships, product lines and other tangible elements of organization. It is also the principles under which you operate — the core values, mission and goals of your culture.

In a sailboat, the rudder provides direction. In a business, direction is provided by a vision that motivates and guides, especially when things get turbulent. It is a sense of shared purpose — the language and images that tell us who we are, what we want to become and where we are going. It keeps the company on course.

On a sailboat, sails harness the energy of the environment. They capture the prevailing power of the wind. Employees act like sails. They harness the chaotic currents of the marketplace. They propel the firm forward through choppy waters of regulatory constraints, competitive activity, market trends and technological developments. The critical questions are: what gives employees the power? What enables them to change the old habits and learn new skills and perspectives so they can deal with new competitive challenges?

At Finance One, we saw opportunities with those customers who had been turned down for loans at our parent company's banks. Close to a billion dollars in loans — rejected applications from our own banks — were being booked by our competitors. So, we found a way to reclaim that business by teaming up with our banks before these potential customers walked out the door.

We developed special language tools — a few key phrases that we use every day — to change the way people think and act. The process begins with simple optimism: changing the current view of the situation to a better view.

Here is a current view: "New competitors are coming into our market." Here is a better view: "We will go into their market and prevail." The old language: "Ann is a hard worker, but she doesn't have the skills we need in the near future." The new language: "Ann is a hard worker, and with the right training she will make a major contribution to our future success."

Recently, I picked up an annual report of a well-known energy company. The president's opening letter to shareholders read: "Our people are our most important asset, since they will carry the firm forward into a new competitive era. But that era already requires new skills and insight that the old environment never demanded."

The word "but" suggests limitations. As in: "Wait a minute. Maybe our people don't have what it takes." If you change the "but" to "and," it changes the whole perspective. It demands that you rephrase the sentence: "And we are empowering our people with the new skills and insights that the new environment demands."

Remember: That intangible, vital force — the alliance of active minds and productive skills as found in corporations — is the source of competitive advantage.

Breakthrough thinking is that intangible force — the wind in the sails.