I was sitting in a theater in Providence, R.I. for the Business Innovation Factory two-day innovation summit. For two days I immersed myself in the storytellers who took the stage. One moment we heard from a social entrepreneur who talked about the need to innovate to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Next we heard from the VP of Innovation at Intel.

For two days, a stream of storytellers … the only thing they had in common was the word “Innovation.” I thought about distribution. Right or wrong I thought, not much innovation coming out of the 250,000 distributors across this country. So I needed to test my assumption. I called CEO’s of distribution businesses, large and small in all lines of trade.  Almost universally they agreed.  The business of distribution is complex and busy.  We get caught up in today and lose sight of the innovation and change that’s required for the future.

One CEO summed it up well, when he said, “Dirk, wholesalers and distributors need a catalyst for change.”

You Can Do This

Ask your leadership team to identify mega trends and market dynamics that suggest how we do business “tomorrow” will be different than how we do business “today.”

Watch ASA News monthly throughout 2016 for Brand-New installments of Innovation Corner.