Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the ancient Persians always made important decisions twice—first when they were drunk, and then again when they were sober. Only if the Persians reached the same decision, drunk and sober, would they act on that decision.

In addition to using what might be called a second-chance meeting to review important decisions in an unbiased light, businesses should also take advantage of other means of introducing constructive contention into their decision-making… Our research found nine additional ways to introduce disagreement and to manage that disagreement so it keeps everyone on their toes without harming the camaraderie of a management team.

Over the past five years, companies invested a lot in IT just to stay in place. Although CRM, ERP, inventory control, and other applications generated huge efficiencies in core processes and practices, businesses are seeing diminishing financial returns from these improvements as competitors race to match incremental gains and customers reap most of the value in lower prices or improved service. As a result, strategic opportunities are spreading to the edges of the corporate ecosystem, where they have direct connections to, and influence on, products, customers, and markets in their reach.

GM and Deere show how adding communication technology to existing products can allow for innovative services.

Even though the easy-money days for 'dot-coms' are gone, here are five ways to still win.