Innovation, rather than cut from whole cloth, often comes from re-arranging existing pieces into a new configuration.  So says science writer,  Steven Johnson, in this Wall Street Journal article,  The Genius of the Tinkerer.

This quote from Johnson says it all:

[I]deas are works of bricolage.  They are, almost inevitably, networks of other ideas.  We take the ideas we've inherited or stumbled across, and we jigger them together into some new shape.

Ever since I read the creativity book, Free Play, several years ago, I've loved the concept of bricolage–making something new strictly from what you already have, and no more.  Think left overs in the fridge transforming into a magnificent dinner, unrecognizable from the previous three meals. There's an art to being creative under constrained circumstances. 

Johnson also introduces scientist Stuart Kauffman's concept of "the adjacent possible." Several years ago, a friend, who is both a trained physicist and an accomplished musician talked about this same concept.  While I don't claim to fully understand the scientific nuances of "the adjacent possible,"  with regard to innovation, it says that our perception of what's possible is just one step away from what already exists. But as soon as we take that step, a new set of possibilities emerges.  Pretty soon, after lots of steps, a whole new world has opened up.  (BTW–this is my view of entrepreneurship.  It's not until I take the first step that it leads me to something else. After a few more steps, I've ended up in a place I could never have planned for.)

Underlying all of this is a role for boundary crossers.  We are more likely to run into the bits and pieces of bricolage that can turn into something new.  And as we travel among multiple worlds, our perception of the "adjacent possible" expands faster and further. 

Steve Johnson has a new book coming out in Oct 2010, called "Where Good Ideas Come From."  This video beautifully explains his ideas, better than I could ever do: