Recently I had the pleasure of attending my daughter’s college graduation. As I sat and watched the ceremonies and listened to the speakers, it dawned on me that although she was graduating, it only signified another step in her life. A large step, but one that is simply the culmination of a four-year endeavor to prepare her for the future. In essence, life is an ongoing series of graduations. How proficient we become in continually putting what we learned on the road to these graduations to practice determines our success. If we think about this simple logic, it is easy to see how we can put this to good use in our businesses.

The English philosopher Francis Bacon once said “a wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” We all know that opportunities are good things, so if we take Bacon’s words literally and assume opportunities don’t just land on our laps, how do we become wise and make them? Leaving this solely in the context of our industry, I would make the argument that the wise ones are those whose businesses put into practice all of the graduation steps that got them there.

They use industry education resources, trade shows, periodicals, networking and critical thinking and blend it into their business infrastructure. They constantly keep up with current technology and find clever ways to efficiently integrate it to their benefit. There are many more tweaks that wise business owners do, but above all they are willing to change course if necessary to make their business the best it can be. In a nutshell, they strive to be lifelong learners and go through many mini graduations with the understanding that no single step is the final one.

So how do we find the time to run our businesses and go through the lifelong learning process? How do we cope with the fast-paced rate of change in today’s business? Let’s take a look at some things we can do to accomplish this with minimal disruption to our business day:
 

Wise businesses put into practice all of the graduation steps that got them there.

Part of this is obvious and takes time. We must take organized classes and seminars to consistently update ourselves and keep up with the changing environment. This education happens on multiple levels. First we need to verse ourselves with what options are available to us in order to upgrade our business now and in the future. Examples of this include machinery purchases and software upgrades. Most of us would never buy machinery without justifying its purchase within the constraints of the business. Therefore we need to study what machinery is appropriate by reading, visiting trade shows and joining user groups and peer groups on the internet in an effort to gather as much information as possible.

Taking advantage of trade show education is an easy way to get a variety of topics under one roof, but also is often geared toward specific software or machinery. This allows us to ultimately make the right decision in our purchases. Once we acquire the new equipment or software, we then get initial training and updates on a regular basis in an effort to maximize our use of the new technology.

Less obvious are the subtle things we can do to keep lifelong learning going with minimal disruption to our everyday lives. Networking brings education, especially if you network with intelligent and successful people. Actively seek these people out in networking events such as Chamber of Commerce meetings, and social functions which involve business people who have some measure of success. Gravitate toward them and listen to what they have to say. This helps us get ahead of the game relative to trends that affect our businesses.

Seek out and cultivate relationships with interesting people that you meet during these networking opportunities. Meet them individually in a casual setting to exchange ideas. Although the complexion of their business may differ from yours, it may surprise you how much in common you have and how fresh perspectives may lead you toward ideas and enhancements you never thought of.

Extremely important to all of this is to assign a minimum of thirty minutes each day to read up on current events. This can be done quickly and efficiently online and can be split up into two sessions, morning and night. Remember that as important as your business is, it is only a microscopic dot when compared to the world around us. Begin and end the day with current events. Reading and understanding what is happening in the world subtly educates us. The internet is a great resource to scan wire services for local, world, business and sports news.

Believe it or not, the more we read about what happens in the world around us, the better we equip ourselves to make concise and relevant decisions for our immediate environments. Reading gives us knowledge and sometimes this hits us later, and we end up making decisions with information from what we have read in mind. I make it a habit to scan the news early in the morning, but even if you are not an early riser this can be done with minimal disruption to the work day. Sites such as MSNBC, CNN, AP News and The Wall Street Journal are good places to start.

Another way to keep the lifelong learning process going is to find extension courses through local channels. Community colleges, municipalities and sometimes even high schools offer a myriad of courses for adults in every discipline imaginable. Searching these out will keep your mind fresh to outside ideas and will offer you the chance for you or your employees to put learning to good use. Also it gives you the chance to meet others and participate in new networking opportunities. It is important not to dismiss ongoing education, as it is the catalyst for you to meet the ongoing requirements of your profession. Making the decision to forgo ongoing education for you or your employees because there is not enough time will be detrimental to your business over time.

The point of all of this is that it is not that difficult to make opportunities if we refuse to embark on a lifelong quest to make us the best we can be. We need to seize every opportunity to be lifelong learners. Never feel as though we are too old to master our craft. Life is a series of graduations and infinite steps. The more steps we take, the better we will be for it.