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Pecan-crusted Chicken and the
Recession
By
Dwayne Butcher,
TWI Summit Organizer
 Attending
live events is the most important
thing you can do during this
recession (says the guy who
organizes the annual
TWI Summit).
Sure, I’m biased, but I’m also
right.
Before I go on, let me clarify that
this article is not meant for a
company facing imminent collapse.
Rather, it is for those companies
who are struggling (like everyone),
but will likely survive this
economic storm. I’ve heard from many
of these companies that their
training and travel budgets have
been frozen. Outside of my
Hungry-Man pot pie lunch, is frozen
“anything” in business a good idea?
What happened to agility?
What if – just IF – you learned
something at a conference that led
directly to a savings of $200,000?
Impossible? Many examples prove
otherwise. Any well organized event,
attended by someone aggressively
seeking a return, will produce
positive results. It's
what they are designed to do.
When I attend an event, there’s
several unique things I know I’ll
get. The “soft” take-away is
inspiration. I leave conferences
motivated, excited, and ready to
make improvements in me, my team,
and my company. Admit it… a little
inspiration would go a long way
right now.
Second, I look for connections.
Often times I learn more by talking
with someone over pecan-crusted
chicken at lunch than by the
conference presenters. The value I
get from those connections is
enormous as I walk away with a
Rolodex of names and numbers. When I
face a challenge a few months later,
I’ll remember that “pecan-crusted
chicken Bob” ran into something
similar.
Third, I strive for action. I
aggressively look for ideas that
will translate to improvements, cost
saving, and revenue generation. The
problem is picking the top ten out
of 50 great ideas. Idea generation
is accentuated when you attend
events with others from your
company. A daily wrap-up and
collaborative meeting with your team
will greatly increase the impact of
collective thinking.
So, what’s my point? If you don’t
come to one of my conferences (please
do), go somewhere!
AME,
SME,
LEI,
and the
Shingo Prize
all put on outstanding events
that will do what I outlined above.
Just remember, the companies that
emerged successfully from the Great
Depression were those that invested
in the future.
So you can have your frozen
Hungry-Man pot pie for lunch, but
why not try some pecan-crusted
chicken at an upcoming conference?
It might just be the meal that saves
you and your company significant
dollars and leads to a unique
competitive advantage. Now that’s a
power lunch!
Dwayne
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