The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg and only 705 of its 2200 passengers and crew survived. There were too few life boats onboard, but with a little creativity more lives might have been saved. For example, what if the crew saw the iceberg as a sanctuary instead of a cause of death? They might have ferried people there. Or what if the Titanic maneuvered close enough for people to jump on it? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

If we learn an important lesson from that tragedy we can solve more problems. The lesson? When people look at something they only think of it in traditional terms. The crew of the Titanic saw the iceberg as a menace to be avoided. They overlooked possible solutions hidden in plain sight, much like publishers overlook the opportunity for lucrative sales to buyers in non-bookstore markets.