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Lynda Applegate of Harvard Business School articulates the oft-spoken truths about the Crisis Imperative that's taken up residence in every corner office today. Problem with these truths, of course, is how infrequently they are heeded by the corner-office incumbents.  In the panic of the moment, the survival instinct trumps all.  Cut, fire, and hunker-down in the storm cellar as the raging tornado lays waste.  Then hope the damage isn't too catastrophic.  The wiser course is a full-frontal assault on the status quo, which translates into an organizational obsession on innovation among other things. Not just product innovation.  All-out business-model innovation (and org. restructuring). It can open the door to offering your customers a value proposition they cannot refuse.  (Our free book discusses this in detail, or you can diagnose your own value proposition here.)   Examples abound, of course, and Applegate points to Lew Gerstner's feat at IBM.  Speaking of which, never forget that one of the most profound innovations of the last 25 years occurred during a recession even worse (1980-82) than the one we're in now, as we are reminded by Tom Campbell today.  It was a business-model innovation: the IBM PC's outsourced components.  The message here?  Innovate in a crisis -- and thrive. Don't let it go to waste.