Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan say their new book, Discovery-Driven Growth , is based on the idea that innovators can create "predictable, manageable, and disciplined process[es]" for business ventures even when they are tacking something brand new. In this interview for the Harvard Business Review , McGrath , a professor at Columbia Business School , says that when you operate without the benefit of institutional knowledge, you operate on assumptions rather than experience. But that doesn't mean you have to fly blind. She says innovators have to "plan to learn" rather than "plan to be right." You can read the first chapter of Discovery-Driven Growth here .