I feel like I should start this article with something like: “An innovator and a boss walk into a bar....” But I don’t have a punch line to follow it, so I’ll stick to the facts.

I recently read a blog post titled, “Think Like an Author, Not an Owner.” I felt the story should be more accurately cast as thinking like an innovator and a boss, and that it allowed me to make an important point that is emphasized in the Baldrige Excellence Framework.

You have probably never heard of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; at least I hadn’t. Oswald was the 1920’s creation of Walt Disney and Ubbe Iwerks, Disney’s star graphic artist. Oswald was owned by Universal Studios. After Oswald became a success, Universal’s executives told Disney to cut costs and increase productivity, or Universal would hire (“steal”) Disney’s best animators.

 …