Where do companies get their best ideas for change initiatives and for continually challenging their organizations to improve?

I spend a lot of time traveling around the country meeting with companies similar to Fisher's who are the best in the business.  We talk about best practices, industry benchmarks, customer-centric cultures, product line strengths and weakness, etc.  They are extremely valuable meetings and Fisher's has implemented lots of change initiatives from those ideas that have made a real impact in our business.

That said, the best ideas do not come from meeting with other companies and talking with industry consultants.  The best ideas, without a doubt, come from Fisher's employees. 

I meet one-on-one with three Fisher's employees every week (cycling through the entire company about every four months).  In these sessions we have extremely open, candid dialogue about what is going well at Fisher's, what is not going well, and what new ideas everyone has for us to improve.  It's Fisher's employees who understand best how to communicate better with customers, what new processes can allow us to fulfill an ever-increasing number of new orders, what infrastructure investments will improve our response times, how we can have even more fun as a company, etc. 

I have found these simple meetings to be far more valuable than visiting the best of the best around the country.  So I would like to thank Fisher's employees for their open and honest feedback that has taken this organization to new heights.