(John Wiley & Sons Inc.: Hoboken, NJ) -- The recession is in full swing and companies everywhere are feeling the pain. Yours is likely no exception. Shrinking budgets, sweeping layoffs, and a smothering malaise that's settled over your workforce make it hard to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, even the most optimistic leader finds him or herself wondering, Is there an end to this particular tunnel? Sure there is, says Kimberly Douglas, but you're going to have to excavate it yourself—and you're going to have to light your own way.

"Innovation is the only ticket out of this recession," asserts Douglas, author of The Firefly Effect: Build Teams That Capture Creativity and Catapult Results (Wiley, 2009). "I believe this is true for America as a whole and it's certainly true for the individual organizations that make up our nation."

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