Don't Fire Your Future!

Credit: Tiffany Fox

Are you firing your future? Are you saying no to the very idea that could save your business? Are you ignoring a possible path forward looking for work that is gift wrapped?

Years ago I had the opportunity to work with an industry giant. He left a safe position in the 60's and started his own business. His pledge was to do everything about his industry better. By all accounts he accomplished this and sold his company for a boatload of money.

I went to work for him in 1992. Desktop publishing was new. There was no email. No PDF proofs or electronic file transfer. If digital art existed it was loaded to a disc and shipped across town or the country. Proofs were made from film and they traveled by sales rep, courier or overnight carrier. Times were different.

This CEO asked me to attend a printing trade show. Our plant manager was already there. He wanted me to go and evaluate suggested purchases from the sales side of things. It was a great exercise for me and I enjoyed asking "why would customers care" about each asset shared.

We made a purchase. It was a killer server and a serious upgrade to our prepress operation. It even provided remote access (via a digital phone line) to our digital printing investment in another building. It was this remote access that had me scratching my head.

So I’m back home in Atlanta.

I passed the owner in the hall. He asked, "what's on your mind young man? (I was younger then) I can see that you're working on something." I responded, "I think I have an idea but I don't have it sorted out yet. He said, “tell me the part you can see. Maybe the rest will become clear as we talk."

We stepped into the conference room and I sketched out a remote access/transfer service for clients. He summoned a prepress leader and our plant manager. He asked me to share my idea and charged the others to comment and help breathe life into it.

Together we designed a service. Subscribers could transfer files by clicking an icon on their desktop. They didn't have to wait for couriers. Their work moved instantly. Quickly, we added asset management and remote proofing annotation.

This service secured millions in printing for us. The idea came to life because the owner looked for a way to say yes. He did not respond with "come see me when you have it figured out" or "I don't know how to do that so stick to printing books." He asked more of himself.

His company sold to a consolidator a few years later. We were one of 115 plants. Do you want to guess how many offered the market remote access and file transfer? Zippo! We were the only one. We were the only one with digital printing too.

So how do you manage ideas? Do you see them as an opportunity to lead or as a distraction to deflect? How do you manage what might be a defining moment?

Your answer matters. If we know anything, we know things change. What works today is routine and on the way to being retired tomorrow. Your future doesn’t live in today’s solutions.