When I was speaking at the Canadian Printing Industries Association last week, I was asked, “If social media is so good, are there any printers doing it well?” I was stumped. I said, “I'll get back to you, probably by e-mail after the event.” I went back to my room, and started to instant message with some of my online buddies, sent e-mails to some consultants, friends and acquaintances, and sent a general e-mail to many in my LinkedIn network. Because of social media, I was able to answer the question within an hour, and as more answers came in over the next two hours, I sent follow-ups. Somewhere along the line I will write about these companies, or someone much better qualified to do so from our WhatTheyThink expert team will. The process reminded me, however, of some very important points.

First, when there is something new, we always like to see examples of how it is done. But if everyone sits around waiting for that, they'll always be laggards. Don't get me wrong, I really believe that the importance of being first is vastly overrated, but the importance of being innovative and right is not. Being first and being innovative are not always the same. Entrepreneurs improvise, but can't always invent from scratch. Being the innovator does not require being an inventor. The question, then, is what do we do when there are no examples? Wait? Or decide to try it ourselves?

Second, sometimes it's often hard to see a connection between how other industries do things and how we operate in the printing industry. This seems to be especially hard for printers who have always been in their own businesses. It's hard to get away from your business, but it's really important. One does this by making sure one sees people outside the industry by joining groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and being active in non-industry organizations, and by making sure you have some business advisors who are ignorant about your business but smart and experienced enough to ask hard and challenging questions. While there is often a “right way” in one business that does not always hold true in another, thinking through the whys and why nots often result in making an innovative connection that others may not see.