CO-OPERATIVE DAYDREAMING

I had lunch the other day with my web designer. We usually try to hook up once a month or so to see how things are going with my site, troubleshoot any problems, etc. This time, however, I had nothing major to report. In fact, I almost cancelled in the interest of saving ourselves valuable time. But we met anyway, and ended up just letting the conversation run itself.

That was the first good idea we had. Over the course of a couple hours, we came up with several others. Oh, sure, we started out with small talk: kids coming home for their winter break, the holidays, her camp at Sugarloaf. But eventually, we started riffing on each others’ businesses, and that was when things started getting good.

As a primarily one-man-show, I don’t have a staff, a boss, boardmembers or advisors. Which is good, because I can focus on satisfying the most important people in any business relationship: my customers. However, the downside is that I don’t always get the benefit of a multi-faceted view of my own business, except occasionally at lunchtime. And I’m very grateful for those lunchtime moments.

Talking with someone from outside my day-to-day dealings helps jar my though process from its usual path. One idea sparks another, which leads to another, and another, and pretty soon, I’m helping my web designer develop an innovative audio project for one of her other clients. Result? I get a new client, in a new medium, she upgrades a current client, and the client adds another facet to its online presence. Win-win-win.

There was no agenda for our meeting, no problems to solve, and no mountains to be moved. And I think that’s exactly when new ideas blossom – when we’re not specifically looking for them. It’s a shame you can’t schedule “co-operative daydreaming.”

Or can you?