President’ Message: Experience doesn’t have to be an expensive teacher.  Learn from others so you can avoid those expensive lessons… 

The value of experience in business growth strategy development is often under-estimated. We read the histories of companies that seem to buck the trends and deliver innovative ideas quickly, often using thinking which at the time seemed unconventional. Maybe it just was their “thinking processes” that had fallen out of vogue? Or maybe they had the right level of experience, personal, internal or outside consultants to help them make these critical decisions at the right time.

One of the many benefits I and others have taken from CDMA membership is the vast amount of experience that your CDMA connections can bring to bear, if you choose to use them. Finding the right person with the needed experience can allow you to pose questions that maybe have no easy answer, but some related experience which in turn is invaluable to you and your business.

Academics continue to pound the obvious routes to new and novel thinking, while the expensive lessons that some people experience in their business lives help them to avoid those same results the second time around. Live and learn has to be constant on our minds – especially when business growth is inherently risky before adding aggressive financial targets!

The use of case histories and business experience in CDMA presentations has been one of the key frameworks for business leaders to grow from. The current market dynamics, be it triple bottom line, cost control and related strategic decisions and finally global competition all require forward thinking companies to stretch their views, often where experience is limited. Or is it, in reality?

Connections and experience – learning quickly so as not to repeat those expensive lessons – can be a significant career enhancer. CDMA membership offers these connections to experience – use it!