Unlocking better ideas.

I travelled back to my hometown in country NSW to speak at Grainstock. An industry symposium pulled together by Stu at Voyager Malt. 

I don’t know what I expected, but I gotta take my hat off to Stu. It was an incredible event! 

I spent the day listening to dozens of interesting speakers and absorbing as much information as I could.

But I found as much value in the ad-hoc conversations between sessions. Standing in the corridors, at the bar, or lingering around the food stations. 

I met some truly wonderful people that I look forward to connecting with again in the future. 

That's all as you'd expect.

But something else happened too that I felt like I had to share with you.

It was the journey getting there.

The conversations that happened in the car along the way with the people I travelled with and the things you see that spark new ideas. 

When you get away from work, out of the office, beyond the reach of knowing you can solve work problems and away from normal family routines, your mind shifts. 

You think completely differently. 

And as a result, different conversations occur that don’t normally happen when you’re in the daily routine of work - family - life - repeat…

Now, I’ve never been big on travelling to conferences and trade shows. 

As an introvert, I prefer to keep my distance from sales reps and crowds of people I don’t really know. 

But two things became clear to me on this trip that challenged me to shift that perspective:

1. We’re all solving similar problems

Being honest and exploring how others are navigating those challenges with good people on the same journey is an incredible level up for any business owner. 

Weirdly, there’s something calming, or reassuring, that comes with knowing that you’re not the only one “f’ing up” making mistakes, battling fires, losing money, and facing hard times along the way…

When others share their stories and you can relate, it kind of makes you feel better. Even though your problems aren’t yet solved. 

That tiny spark of confidence is often all you need to keep going or make a necessary change.

But that only happens when you actually show up, get together with other curious people in business and build relationships. 

The good news is that it’s so much simpler than what you tell yourself.

2. Ideas flow faster

For some reason, every time I’m away from the grind, ideas flow at a faster rate.

You’ve heard that before. Felt it even. 

But getting away, exposing yourself to new ideas, new information and new people changes you. 

Not only is your mind more open, you feel like decisions that were previously hard, are all of a sudden easier to make a call on. You can finally take action, behave differently, want more for yourself, and are face those scary problems. 

Taking that energy back into your business (or your home life) is incredibly powerful. 

I’d hazard a guess to say that business owners and professional managers who are curious, do attend conferences, read, connect with others, build their network and ultimately, expose themselves to new ways of thinking, are far more likely to go on and succeed in their industry. 

While others who don’t put themselves out there like that probably struggle under the weight of solving their own problems slowly in isolation.

I wanted to share this today because educational events are often hard to find in the industry. 

Trade events get all the attention because their is money tied up in it for the bigger end of town. 

But education? Who cares about that bit right…

And even when you do find one that you think looks okay, you place it at the bottom of your priority list. 

You tell yourself that finding the time, planning it, paying for it and dealing with the workload when you get back is too painful.

For the few that do want to commit but don’t know where to look, ask Chatty G to pull together a list for you. Or research industry bodies who normally glue together suppliers and businesses and ask them what's on the calendar. 

Better still, reach out to business owners you admire and ask where they look for new information and how they educate themselves - often they’ll share the events they attend and you'll have someone to go with.

Or do what Stu and the Voyager Malt guys did (even on a smaller scale) and invite a bunch of great people you know or admire to get together formally or informally to share ideas and learn together.

It'll no doubt lead to a world of good things for you.

I’m not saying it’s easy. 

But I am saying it’s essential to the success of your business and your own sanity as an entrepreneur to stay connected, stay educated, and stay curious in this crazy world we live in. 

Take care and have a great week.