The onset of fall typically means I’m putting the final touches on next year’s goals and strategy as I look forward to attending the convenience-store industry’s annual trade show. To me, the NACS Show is my official start to a new year. And because this is also an election year for control of Congress, I have no doubt there’ll be lots of talk about politics and its effect on our industry.
The NACS Show is a time to meet up with old friends and business associates, make new friends and brainstorm new opportunities and ideas, all in a few short days. I personally get an adrenaline rush developing new ideas or products and bringing them to market. New ideas are always at the core of growth for any business, and from day one we strived to create a culture at CSP that embraces ideas and changes to better serve you, our readers.
It’s this culture of creativity and innovation that has given live to products and events that are now a part of our core: the first digital newsletter for our industry, CSP Daily News, launched in 2001; FARE, the only cross-channel conference for food on the go, in 2008; and, just last year, Convenience Store Products, the industry’s only tabloid for new products. We’ve had a few misses along the way, but without risk there can be no success. In the early days, our process was informal, and Paul Reuter and Drayton McLane always challenged us to shake things up.
As we have grown in size, we’ve continued to refine our approach. Over the past several years, we’ve held ideation meetings, and we invite not just our executive team but also our teammates on the front lines to bring their thinking and creativity. We break up into cross-functional teams to brainstorm ideas. Each team comes up with its best two or three ideas, which it then pitches to the entire group for a vote on the favorites. The ideas with the most votes win, and the team is rewarded.
Like any company, we have ideas that don’t make the cut. And even some ideas that were ranked in the top three never see the light of day, which is OK. The goal is to get everyone to embrace new ideas and change, and to harness the full brainpower of our company. What’s been interesting is that as time has gone on, more good ideas have come from all areas of the company, not just sales or our executive team. It has allowed others the chance to shine and participate in the process I’m sure many of you have similar processes in place that allow you to stimulate new thinking and develop your teams. This type of culture vs. the top-down, same-old mindset is critical for us to grow and thrive in today’s highly competitive business world.
It is also a culture I believe would benefit our national political system. As we prepare for the midterm elections, whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, I think you’d have to agree that our system needs some fixing. While our business embraces a culture of urgency that rewards innovation and new ideas, the beltway is replete with career politicians who take the same party-line stances that aren’t working.
In this respect, I’ve been thinking about two years ago. I’m not sure Mitt Romney would have been the best president, but I’m pretty certain his new ideas and probusiness thinking would have been better for stimulating job growth than that of our current president.
As we come together in Vegas and as we as a nation soon cast our ballots for a new Congress, we should ask ourselves, as business leaders and citizens of this great country: Are we perpetuating outdated ideas and solutions, or are we embracing new ways to grow and solve old challenges? Our industry is relatively small but very resilient. Goliaths have arrived, expecting to step on us. It wasn’t long ago that many predicted big-box chains would rule our nation’s pumps. Well, they are players, but we still own most of today’s retail gasoline business. We won because we adapted.
We won because we thought outside of the box. Maybe it’s time for our national politics to do the same. See you in Vegas.
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