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Our feature article this month deals with breaking out of the mold and seeing your business in a new light. Enjoy.
Joe |
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Do ordinary things in extraordinary ways
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Carl Kuttler, the past president of St. Petersburg College in Florida and my fellow speaker at the FMA Leadership Summit in Orlando three weeks ago, spoke about how every business has to continuously re-invent itself to stay relevant. He spoke about 10 ways to stay entrepreneurial. His #1 point was to look at ordinary things in new, extraordinary ways. To make his point he talked about a father and son standing on top of a mountain looking out into a clear night. The son described how amazing it was to see a cluster of lights belonging to a little town more than 20 miles away. When he asked his father how far he could see, he tilted his head back and said 30 trillion miles, telling him the distance to the nearest star in the night sky.
See the difference? Before the start of the University of Phoenix all college classes were taught in person on fixed schedules in fixed semesters. Phoenix revolutionized adult education by offering flexible schedules, on-line learning and lowered the cost to make it affordable to more potential students. After 10 years the competition has caught up and new concepts are sprouting up everywhere. $99 per month college classes anyone?
The way to find these new and extraordinary ways starts with challenging your thinking and to look differently at all the things which have become standard procedure. If you start out with: we always do this ..., everybody does it ..., nobody is asking..., nothing is broke ... you are stuck in the "ordinary" way. Get unstuck by asking people who do not have any knowledge of your business and people who are successful in completely unrelated areas, what and how they would solve or do some of your ordinary tasks. Then sit back and listen and ask open-ended questions. In all the "impossible" ideas lay the extraordinary ways to move your business to the next level. Next day deliveries, paying bills over the internet, selling on-line, booking flights and checking in on-line, PC's built to order or electronic watches are all examples of what is possible when one does not accept the status quo. Everything is possible needs to be your new mantra to keep your business entrepreneurial, to re-invent and succeed. And, always be aware that while you were sleeping last night somebody in India, China or next door was up all night creating an extraordinary idea, thus planning your demise.
Analyze your beliefs. Recognize that, if you do not re-invent or improve your business every day, you actually are falling behind. Looking at your business differently and acknowledging that current ways and thinking are just that, representing the status quo. Create possibilities by stepping out and look for "new", "different" and "extraordinary" ideas and challenge your beliefs. Then act!
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