In
the
world
of
sled
dogs,
if
you're
not
the
lead
dog,
the
scenery
is
always
pretty
much
the
same.
Goes
for
business
owners,
as
well.
You'd
think
that
business
owners
were,
by
definition,
lead
dogs,
wouldn't
you?
Except
that
many
business
owners
don't
act
like
lead
dogs
--
they
keep
their
scenery
pretty
much
the
same
by
working
in
the
business
every
day.
There
are
250
days
a
year
when
you
can
go
to
the
office,
and
most
days
at
the
office
(working
in
the
business)
look
pretty
much
the
same.
According
to
a
very
successful
member
of
Chief
Executive
Boards
International:
Click here for the complete video interview"If you're not spending a day a quarter on the issues that are important, you're probably not running your business -- it's probably running you"
Yet many business owners seem to believe that every one of the 250 available work days in a year need to be spent in the trenches, slugging it out with the competition, bank, vendors, employees, etc. As if doing those same things over and over will somehow produce a different result.
Successful business owners do act like lead dogs, by controlling and changing their own scenery. They're constantly scanning the horizon for new ideas, and putting themselves in places and situations where they're finding new and different ideas, many times from completely different types of businesses and industries. In fact, there are major limitations to what you can learn from your own industry. When was the last time you heard of a business that failed or underperformed for lack of industry knowledge? Rare. You can probably get good ideas from others in your own industry. You're unlikely to get breakthrough ideas from others in your own industry. Click here to learn the difference between directional (incremental) and intersectional (breakthrough) ideas.
Let's face it. There are 250 days a year when you can go to the office and do the same things you always do when you go to the office. Will the business crater if you're not there 5 or 10 of those? Might those 5 or 10 be better spent getting recharged with some energy and ideas you wouldn't have come by in another day at the office? Get out a bit. Go to an all-day or multi-day seminar. Go to a Trade Show. Join a Rotary Club. Join a CEO Peer Group. Do something to put yourself in front of other thinking people who will challenge your assumptions and provide you some intellectual scenery you wouldn't have otherwise seen.
