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Pecan-crusted Chicken and the Recession
By
Dwayne Butcher, Lean Accounting Summit Organizer
Attending
live events is the most important thing you can do during
this recession (says the guy who organizes the annual
Lean Accounting 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. At the end of
this article, you will find a Goal Setting Guide and
companion ROI calculator to help you think through
investment issues.
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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Speaking of ROI
When asked
specifically, “What would you tell someone considering the
Lean Accounting Summit?”, these were a few comments from
2008 Summit participants.
These comments came last September when the
economy was in a free-fall!
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I would
encourage them to attend. The ability to have so many
people with similar challenges in the same room was
priceless. You will leave with things you can implement
immediately.
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Lean
Accounting practices are gaining traction, so if you're
serious about remaining current in the changing
marketplace you must attend.
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The
networking aspect alone is well worth your investment.
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Extremely worthwhile. Unlike most seminars that are
strictly sales related activities, there are real
takeaways from the summit.
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It
makes you realize there are a lot of companies trying to
make it happen...
you leave feeling alive and ready to
remove waste.
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It will
help you understand if you are going in the right
direction and put you in contact with those who know
what they are doing and doing it right.
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It is
the best conference that I have ever attended.
ROI Calculator
Need to
justify Summit attendance? Utilize the two tools provided by
Summit organizers. The first walks you through your specific
goals in attending the Summit. Where possible, you will
determine a potential return. Next, enter known cost
information along with anticipated results from the Goal
Setting tool and potential ROI is automatically calculated.
1.
Goal setting (PDF)
2. ROI Spreadsheet (Excel)
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