Some of the best ideas for responding to changing conditions may be hiding in plain sight in the people and organizations not in power now. You can see this very clearly as the U.S. transitions from the Bush to the Obama Administration.

Just this weekend the Washington Post featured a story on healthcare reform that put forward the perspective that we already spend more than enough money but we need to redirect it to prevention, primary care and targeted management of high-cost chronic conditions. I heard this theme many times at the Institute for Alternative Futures as it researched solutions for a broken healthcare system. IAF, many think tanks and thought leaders have advocated this paradigm shift in articles, reports and speeches for several years. While not new thinking, we may be ready now to hear it. In a troubled economy, this set of ideas may keep healthcare reform alive.

Chances are good that alternative thinking is also hiding in plain sight in your organization if you just know where to look. Organizations need processes that get these alternative perspectives on the table. You don’t have to wait until an election to sweep in more effective ideas. Profile your current leadership on the issues that are important to your organization. If they are too much of one mind, you may be limiting your access to new thinking.

If you look just outside your current leaders and power structure, what are the thought leaders saying? How do different cohorts think about the situation? Would Gen Xers take a different approach than the Baby Boomers now enjoying their day on your boards and in senior positions? Would less powerful stakeholders suggest a different answer if you ask? Identify people and organizations that enjoy poking their fingers into the prevalent paradigm. Interview them. Read what they write. Give them a platform at your meetings and conferences.

There’s good reason why changing our organizations and systems is a struggle. We have to be able to think differently and see new possibilities for what might work. Somewhere in your world people and organizations already think differently and they will not be hard to find.