I recently attended a CEO retreat in Santa Barbara. We talked about both our business goals as well as our personal goals and spent two half-days enjoying the area. I took the opportunity to clear my mind so that I could think innovatively.

Everyone clears their mind in different ways. I enjoyed the coast and scenery while catching up on a newsletter as well as walking the area. That put me into the mindset of innovation so that I could figure out how to turn 1+1 = 22 and/or take 15 – 8 = 22.

Whether you increase revenue or reduce labor (work smarter), you achieve a powerful return on investment and might just come up with the next “BIG” idea. After thinking through the session and running ideas by colleagues, I think I have hit upon that next big thing for my LMA-i, LMA Intelligence series that my clients should be thinking about to get ahead of the competition.

You’ll be hearing more about it but the concept is “Future Proofing Your Manufacturing Business” or “Manufacturing & Supply Chain Future Proofing”

One Tip to Implement This Week:
We are typically doing at least 8000 things at once, which means we get nothing done well. I am quite familiar with this concept! Instead, try clearing your mind, perhaps focusing on one priority and just setting aside time to think about the future and where you should really focus your time and attention. Undoubtedly, we will ALL find room for improvement.

Leaving the meeting, I was seriously thinking about dropping an important event because I was worried about the labor intensity.  However, it turns out it is quite important to my process for developing intelligence to share with clients (LMA-i) as well as gaining prospective clients and staying on the leading edge of thought leader status. What was I thinking?!?!

See, we all can make mistakes. It took someone I just met but had an engaging conversation with to drop some advice into the mix that corrected my thinking. I was well-intentioned but racing down the wrong path.  So, I have revised a new approach (luckily before I implemented any changes).

Out of this process (including my ‘bad idea’) and related interactions/ collaborations over the next few days popped a great idea. Not only should we take time to think but run your ideas by respected colleagues, new colleagues who might provide fresh insights (which you can choose to use or toss out) and trusted friends. You just might come up with the next sticky pad’ (one of the great inventions stemming from innovation) or the way to repackage or re-position a great idea that will drive dramatic improvement for your business and /or career.