Quotes to do business by
It's not often at a business publication that we come across quotes that seem to tell the story in just a few carefully thought out words.
Often, we're pushing business leaders to go beyond the industry jargon, to use plain English. Yet, without undue prompting, we ended up with some quotes in this issue of Mainebiz that use original metaphors and are effective at conveying the point in a few words.
Senior Writer Lori Valigra closely followed the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In her “Inside the Notebook” column, she draws on the analogy made by one innovation leader.
“Americans like to build technology 'covered wagons' and take them 'out west' to open new innovation frontiers; we don't head our wagons 'back east' to bring innovation to our legacy sectors,” William Bonvillian, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Washington, D.C., office, said during a legacy innovation panel at the AAAS meeting. “By failing to do so, the economy misses a major opportunity for innovation, which is the bedrock of U.S. competitiveness and its standard of living.”
Laurie Schreiber, our Bass Harbor-based correspondent, connected with the state's boat builders for a story about the resurgent boat industry.
Customers are attracted to new, says Bentley Collins, vice president of marketing at Sabre Yachts and Back Cove Yachts. He was explaining not just how the industry has changed since the last boon in boat sales, prior to the recession, but also just the need to change.
“I compare this with a customer walking into a car showroom and seeing five- and six-year-old models on the floor,” he says. “I don't think anyone would say, 'Look, there's a 2008 Honda Civic. I think I'll buy it.' People like new technologies, they like new styles.”
Laurie's story about the boat-building industry also sounded the theme of the worker shortage. As we've heard in other industry, Maine's dwindling population of young people is not interested in pursuing the trades. We hear it in manufacturing, construction and, of course, boat building. Julie Rabinowitz, communications director for the Maine Department of Labor, says employers need to be more aggressive about finding employees — and breaking through perceptions.
“If employers just stand in a field and say, 'I can't find any workers,' that doesn't help them,” she says. “They have to reach out, and then we can assist them in raising their profile. Part of that is getting into the local high school or career and technical school and saying, 'Hey, did you know that, down that dirt road where you see the sign that says boatyard, it's not a yard with boats in it; it's a high-tech manufacturing company.'”
This was not in any story, but rather is a quote I came across that seems to encompass so much of not only business but life itself.
“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” — Capt. Jack Sparrow
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