1.4 Billion Reasons Not To Be Precious About Idea Source

Here’s recent newsfeed clickbait. From London’s Telegraph broadsheet.

The story, as much as it is, features the Big I Am of a bankster who’s firm managed to lose 40pc of the funds under its control in the 2008 crash, and his path to regaining. And surpassing, all the way to £1.4bn. He’s duly fêted by the investment community (eg The FT).

The dentistry eluded to is typically mischievous journalism. The actual investment in question concerns the imminent world takeover of on-demand 3D printing (now able to do teeth braces – brand name Invisalign – in an instant).

You could argue that this such tip here is like a ‘bluebird’. But let’s be charitable.

That’s not really my point. He’s not ashamed to go beyond the normal scope of daily contacts for consultation.

I remember in my cubrep days not wanting to sit among the other salespeople. Despite being a fairly gender balanced team, their room was usually a sausage-fest. So I sat slightly askance of them. Close, but not alongside.

And I loved it. The knowledge I picked up from the techies I sat among were gems. Lateral solutions to client needs, workrounds to knotty task loops, and perhaps most precious of all, extra effort put into my prospects by them.

I could still call on selling advice when needed. But without the sixth form common room nonsense.

Many years later, I read the Glaxo ceo proudly state one reason behind his firm’s then stellar performance. He insisted people from different disciplines sat next to each other. He felt the cross-fertilisation encouraged was priceless. I concur.

There’s now deliberate design of offices to trigger such “serendipitous knowledge exchange”. Which the usually on-point Evan Davis somewhat inaccurately dismisses with typically misguided BBC arrogance, as “just bumping into people and finding things out”.

How are you getting these kinds of crucial exposures, both inside and out? Sales tips can come from anywhere. Many are hiding awaiting discovery outside the boundaries of your salesroom walls.