The disruptive challenges confronting wholesale distributors won’t be solved and the transformative opportunities in front of distributors won’t be seized by simply talking to, studying and hanging out only with other wholesaler-distributors. As Steve Jobs once said: “It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best that humans have done. And then try to bring those things in to what you are doing.”

If we are honest with ourselves, we in wholesale-distribution have not been doing what Jobs advises. Distributors hang with other distributors. Plumbing distributors hang with other plumbing distributors. Large distributors hang with other large distributors. And truth be told, we have recycled many of the same best practices for years. Don’t get me wrong. We need to continue to tap this industry-specific insight because we need it to help us manage for today. But we need a wider variety of insight to succeed for tomorrow.

Want to create a culture of innovation within your business? Then commit to exposing your team to critical thought from unconventional resources.

Want to create a culture of innovation within your business? Then commit to exposing your team to critical thought from unconventional resources.

You Can Do This
Be open to lift what others have done and shift those into our industry and your business. Innovative distributors who are preparing for the future will augment the needed industry-specific hangouts with other non-traditional opportunities. We need to, as Steve Jobs said, expose ourselves to the best that humans have done — and that comes from a variety of sources.

Our UnleashWD Innovation Summit on Oct. 19-20 in Chicago is where distribution leaders gather to learn from 15 brilliant leaders, innovators and disrupters … all from outside of distribution to Lift and Shift new innovation strategies to create your bold and relevant future. Learn more at www.unleashwd.com.