"DO Talk to Strangers!"

Don't talk to strangers when you're a child has maybe gone way too far as in extending to adulthood. Especially business who seems to complete fear the idea of looking beyond their own industry.

If you've worked in any industry you probably have noticed that there's a 'follow the trend' attitude within your own industry. If you've noticed any ad about a bank you could probably interchange the logo and wouldn't blink an eye of who's who. Same goes for auto (insert car driving in dessert, mountain, forest here with actors voice explaining the reasons you feel important in that vehicle).

A common theme I have emphasized is growing and learning. If you're a leader encourage your employees to look outside of their industry for ideas, structure and mindset.

When you look at other industries who have 'routine' practices you might realize that you could incorporate a version of that within your industry that might seem revolutionary.

Henry Ford went into a Chicago slaughterhouse and watched the carcasses hanging from the hooks mounted on the monorail. Within six months guess what Mr.Ford had designed?

The first auto assembly line. Unfortunately I know too much about them so I kind of wish he didn't go into that slaughterhouse but I digress.

Another example was London's Great Ormand for children were struggling with handoffs from one procedure to the next. Timing and care were extremely important but they were fumbling too much.

They decided to go to Ferrari's Formula One pit crew in Italy and study the techniques they used such as work in silence and have one clear leader. The changes were adopted and improved the process at the hospital.

The point is to look beyond your competitors, your industry and anything that resembles your company. Coming up with something new means you have to look at something new and the only way to do that is to expand your mind through jumping out of your industry comfort zone.

The best way a strategy can work is a proven strategy even if it's in another field.