Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

“I am just trying to get ideas, any kind of ideas that will help our company.”

Sam Walton said at one time that he had probably been in more retail stores than anybody in America. The reason was what he said above in that he was forever looking for ideas to improve the company.

When we hear a lot today about innovation and creativity, we need to realize that it doesn't matter where it comes from. The whole world has the potential to contribute to the benefit of our businesses if we're looking around enough.

The important part of all of that is the ability to see how someone else is doing something and then adapting and changing it to fit into our company. We shouldn't just to copy or borrow someone's way of doing things, without considering the impact it will have on our company. That's where a lot of people miss the value of what they've discovered.

We can't simply copy outward things, because some of the outward things emerge out of the heart and soul of a business. If we don't tap into what's behind the various practices we see, we'll just make mechanical changes without including the reason why it's being done.

This is the answer to the question of why people haven't been able to compete with Wal-Mart (WMT) over the years, even though they pretty much know the systems in place to make the store work so well. There's something in the heart of a company that makes it almost impossible to compete with. That's why so many great companies go on year-after-year on top of their fields. You can copy the mechnics and systems, but you can't copy the heart and soul.

Other Sam Walton Sources:

Sam Walton

Sam Walton: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Business

Sam Walton - Retail Success Story

Sam Walton and Wal-Mart

How Wal-Mart Got Started

Sam Walton: King Of The Discounters

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?

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