John Abele made his mark – and his fortune – as the co-founder of Boston Scientific Corp., the medical-devices company. But when he speaks this week at the Business Innovation Factory’s fourth annual Collaborative Innovation Summit, Abele will be discussing the USS Grunion, a submarine that disappeared off the Aleutian Islands in the early months of World War II.

For more than six decades, no one knew the fate of the Grunion, which was commanded by Abele’s father, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mannert Abele. A few years ago, however, Abele and his siblings began to correspond with other people who researched wartime subs. After being tipped off about an obscure article regarding the Grunion, Abele and his siblings set off on a major expedition to the Aleutians in August 2006 – and found the sunken Grunion’s final resting place.

Abele’s story touches on some of the key themes that come up during the yearly “BIF” summits: collaboration, creative thinking, investment and dedication. Organizers say they hope the two-day conference Oct. 15-16 will once again spotlight the power of smart and innovative thinking.

“It’s really different from most events,” said Melissa Withers, the Business Innovation Factory’s spokeswoman. “There are no keynotes. There are no Powerpoint presentations.” Instead, each of the 34 storytellers, as the participants are called, will get 15 minutes on stage at Trinity Repertory Co. to tell a story about how he or she created change or a landmark innovation.

“What you get is a really authentic and even sort of irreverent story about what it takes to make change, and the talent it takes,” she said.

This year’s storytellers, all of whom are donating their time, represent a diverse array of backgrounds and businesses, from David Yaun, a senior executive at IBM, to Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that works to alleviate global poverty by using entrepreneurial strategies.

What sets the BIF summit apart from other “big-think” confabs, its organizers say, is the event’s intimate size and open environment. Just over 300 people from across the country have purchased tickets for $1,000 to $1,200 - scholarships are also available - and there is ample time set aside for informal discussions with the storytellers.

“I find it more welcoming and more accessible than a lot of the other conferences,” said Bill Taylor, founder and editor of Fast Company magazine, who will be one of the BIF summit’s hosts for the second year in a row. “I really consider it one of my must-attends.”

Without a doubt, some of the talk at the summit will turn to concerns about the nation’s ongoing financial crisis. But, in Taylor’s view, the downturn is a good time to hold the event.

“I think it’s a great time to have BIF, because it emphasizes how important original thinking and a distinctive point of view is,” he said. “The reason we’re in this mess is that so many people in the financial services field marched in lockstep - so many people all tumbled to the same bad idea at the same time. The problem was not that there was too much innovation; there was not enough critical thinking.”

Taylor continued, “I think one of the key messages and ongoing themes of BIF is that the most high-impact innovators march to the beat of their own drummer. They innovate on a very personal and very clear set of values.”

As an example, he pointed back to the first Internet bubble in the late 1990s, when more than a dozen companies launched online pet-food stores. “That’s not innovative; that’s mimicry,” Taylor said.

In addition, Withers emphasized the value for Rhode Island in having such a high-profile event here. “This is an incredible opportunity to bring a very impressive group of national folks into our city, into our state, for two days, they’re a captive audience,” she said. •