Don't Wipe the Slate Clean

It is that time of year when you hear or see the all-too-common idiom, "a new year, a clean slate." The idea of an opportunity to wipe out the past and start over resonates with some, but others it is a continuation of a journey with new possibilities for positive outcomes.

If you are a business with vision, regardless of industry or sector, you are designed to create products and services, make money, serve customers and build a sustainable business. To determine if you are creating lasting value, you embody the learning process and test, describe, and determine the cause and effect relationships. For this reason, you understand that merely wiping the slate clean, year-after-year, without learning only keeps you doing the same things over and over.

To determine if you are creating lasting value, you embody the learning process...

Whether a startup or company with a long and stable operating history, static environments are no longer acceptable and what you learn and how you innovate will determine your future growth.

Every organization has the opportunity to learn from their past. How they build, measure and learn will be significant factors in determining their success.

For any organization whose 2015 version was not their best, it is a new year with new opportunities.