Industry executives often have tunnel vision when it comes to how to run their businesses. They look to what’s happening in their own industries and “ignore or get bored when they see something happening in another industry not directly related to them, such as banking, that they don’t think relates to them,” says Steve Samek, author of NAW's first Facing the Forces of Change study, in The Folly of Fast Following.
But inspiration for innovation often comes from outside your core business focus. Just look at Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. What started as an online bookseller in 1994 (a huge innovation in and of itself – public email accounts were still a grand new idea in 1994), is now an "endless aisle" marketplace – and still expanding. That success didn't come from only thinking about how to sell books.
Distributors tend to look to other distributors to find "new" ideas, according to Dirk Beveridge, president of 4th Generation Systems, in MDM Interview: Need for Innovation in Disruptive Times.
"While that’s good, it has caused a void of new ideas and new thinking being brought into our industry. For too long we’ve been listening to the same people, the same gurus, and we do need to do that. There is so much domain expertise out there, it’s phenomenal, it’s wonderful, it’s great," Beveridge said. "… But what we have failed to do is open our eyes to outside of our industry, what’s going on outside of this industry that we can lift and shift into our business. We don’t do that.
"We need to get outside of our typical circle. And we need to inject new thinking into wholesale distribution," he said.
Where does this new thinking come from? Anywhere. Uber's success in on-demand driving services is already being applied to shipping and delivery – access your app to see who has space available in trucks in your area. The fitness tracker rage inspired a new process for Paramont EO, Chicago, IL-based electrical and decorative lighting distributor, for determining the best layout for its redesigned warehouse.
Where will your next inspiration come from?
