Smart people in a room discussing big ideas

I'm in Omaha this week with my day job The gig is pretty cool, though.  We are leading a session of 100 shareholders in a brainstorming exercise on leveraging the power of data.

I love the iron-sharpening-iron component to these types of sessions.  Each time we are exposed to someone with a slightly different perspective than our own, something in us shifts.  We grow.  Put a hundred smart people in a room all with different perspectives discussing big ideas and something happens.

For organizations intent on navigating the creative destruction of existing industries, this type of exercise matters.  If too much of our day-to-day is spent surrounded by those who share our opinions and ideals, then we can be blind to things that aren't directly in our field of vision.

Both our eyes and hearing function by perceiving things from slightly different angles. Sometimes we I need that reminder.  (And packing your stuff in a suitcase and changing venues almost always manages to provide it.)