In this article, we focus on think tanks as intermediaries between exploration and exploitation. To underpin our theoretical arguments on their linking function between both domains, we conducted a case study. The object of investigation is a think tank which has played a decisive role in the modernisation of the German public sector. The managerial innovation it has triggered is a control model which departs from the principles of bureaucracy by shifting emphasis from input to output control. We visualise the links between exploration and exploitation by analysing citations of reports and journal articles in which the think tank outlines this model. Three stages of the discourse on New Public Management (NPM) in Germany are distinguished, resulting in a remarkable diffusion rate in administrative practice.