ERM is the path to a Breakaway Innovation® and the following Five Principles of Breakaway Innovation® are a critical to understanding how ERM is strategic to an organization.

- Breakaway Innovation® is the result of a series of successful breakthroughs throughout the organization. These breakthroughs are the result of successfully resolving breakdowns. Breakthroughs occur when the team has absolute trust in each other and are able to make authentic commitments in an environment void of blame and fear
of failure - A Breakaway Innovation® can only exist by bringing a new future to the present. This happens through creating authentic commitments that are forged by a high level of Relationship and Trust
- A Breakaway Innovation® is not an incremental increase in business performance. A Breakaway Innovation® is a departure from the past or “status-quo” that catapults the company forward. There is no obvious or intuitive way to achieve the Breakaway Innovation® and it doesn’t have an historic precedent. Yet the team, through commitment and trust believes in the possibility of achieving the Breakaway Innovation® resulting in accelerated performance
- A Breakaway Innovation® must have a specific timeframe in which to achieve results and the results must be specific and measurable. Keep in mind that periodic adjustments and successfully managing breakdowns will need to be made during the process. Each member of the team must take 100% responsibility for bringing the Breakaway Innovation® into fruition in order to truly achieve a Breakaway Innovation®
- The resulting Breakaway Innovation® must be celebrated within the entire organization. This helps solidify the trust and commitment of the team, which reinforces the authenticity of its achievements
Throughout the implementation of the ERM process, the people in the company will embody the Breakaway Innovation® principles.