Mad Dogs, Dreamers, and Sages is a new book written by Stephen Zades and Jane Stephens. Zades and Stephens believe true growth cannot be attained through methods of the past. Cost cutting and M&A will not fuel companies forever.

They, like many, believe the name of the game is ideas. The trick is creating an environment that encourages new ideas. Companies that can make new connections with existing ideas are the one that are going to prosper.

Zades ran a advertising firm in his past life. One of the process they used of was the Creative Odyssey . The agency and their clients would travel around the world to interact with [and this is a list from the book]:

graffiti and hip hop artists, avant-guard filmmakers, curators of fashion, political strategists, journalists, futurists, psychiatrists, screenwriters, actors, musicians, drama coaches, performance artists, chaos theory physicists, corporate titans, entrepreneurs, congressman, technologists, and toy designers.

The new philosophy requires a new set of tools. They talk about the use of story and conversation. They about the importance of contradiction as you make these new connections. These are just a few.

This book is all about soft skills. We will not find formulas or calculations. It is about putting yourself and your company in a different place. One that will allow you to generate ideas you never expected.