There are two ways to get this economy going again. Either household debt disappears or growth accelerates. We can't make our debt disappear, although we can begin to inflate it. And although we won't go from 1 percent to 5 percent GDP growth in a few months, we do know how to start. It's the same way that thousands of companies across the country get growing every year. It's innovation.

This week The Atlantic is launching The Secrets of Innovation, a special report, and we want you to participate. The rules are simple. Tell us your company's best idea. Write a paragraph. Send a picture if you can. That's it.

It's a simple crowd-source project. But we're hoping the final product will be something profound. We're got some of the most exciting companies in the country participating already. Multinational corporations like IBM and Siemens (see their one-of-a-kind hybrid-electric airplane here). Venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures. Research universities like Harvard and Duke (see its cancer-detecting flashlight here). They've all shared with us what they consider their best, most exciting new idea, and we'll be sharing them with you over the next three weeks.

But we also want you to participate. Whether you're an independent entrepreneur, a hacker at a start-up, a solo contractor, or an employee at a large company doing awesome stuff, tell us your firm or organization's single most compelling idea and we'll feature it in this series. At the end of the three weeks, we're running every submission in one monster post that we hope will show off the coolest ideas in the country.

Leave your submission in the comment section or email me directly at dthompson@theatlantic.com. Thank you, and keep making awesome stuff.