In my industry, the past ten months or so have been mostly about fear and loathing. Most marketers are just trying to somehow make their way through the economic mess. Some are slicing and dicing their budgets, while others are merely nipping and tucking. But they’re all feeling the pain.

Despite this, I tend to agree with UCLA professor Richard Rumelt when he said, “A structural break is the very best time to be a strategist, for at the moment of change old sources of competitive advantage weaken and new sources appear.”

This time in history certainly qualifies as a “structural break.” And since very few companies are acting normally, there’s no such thing as “the norm” right now. Which spells big opportunity.

Take the banking industry. Most of us wouldn’t even think to go near it these days, except perhaps to withdraw cash to stuff under our mattresses. Yet Fortune’s Jon Birger offers an interesting take on the opportunity in the magazine’s May 25 issue:

“Launching a bank in this economy may sound insane, but star bank analyst Meredith Whitney has been saying since last year that the timing couldn’t be better. First, a new bank starts out with a nontoxic balance sheet. Second, its earnings are juiced by a steep yield curve that allows for a healthy spread between the interest the new bank is paying depositors and the rate it’s earning on its loans. And best of all, it is competing with established banks that don’t want to lend – they’re focused more on plugging leaks in their balance sheets than on making new loans.”

Birger and Whitney make a good point. The lesson here is that no matter the sector, opportunity awaits. As crazy as things are out there, people still have needs that must be met, and with so many aspects of their lives up in the air they may be more open than ever to new options.

Think about it in terms of your industry. There may be opportunities for growth just beyond your normal field of vision that can be tapped with little more than imagination, a willingness to try something new and a little bit of courage. Find some time to set aside the pain and pressure of the moment to explore what the future might look like.

It may be coming more quickly than you think–and if you don’t bring it, someone else will.