Tapping into Your Hunter Instincts

Challenged with the mandate to get attendees “riled up,” Convenience Distribution Business Exchange keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche told audience members that while we are experiencing history’s highest rate of change, “our brain is hindered by 10,000 years of evolution as farmers.”

That means we are conditioned to become complacent, repetitive and protective of past successes — the “three traps of a farmer” that cause us to repeat what we’ve done rather than adapt and make changes that would propel us to even greater success, according to the CEO of TrendHunter.com and author of the best-selling book “Better and Faster: The Proven Path to Unstoppable Ideas.”

The antidote, Gutsche said, is to fight some of those farmer instincts by tapping the three “hunter instincts” that allow you to be insatiable, curious and willing to destroy.

He concluded with 16 homework questions that play off the “hunter” mentality. Among them:

• How often do you experiment with ideas that might not work?
• How much time do you spend hunting new opportunities?
• What success is blinding you from trying new ideas?
• How much simpler would you design your business if you had to restart from scratch?

“The next breakthrough is closer than you think,” he said. “Your own success holds you back.”

Keeping with the theme of thinking differently, the welcome address of the 2015 Convenience Distribution Business Exchange focused on finding new, cutting-edge ideas.

Dubbed CDBX for short, the Convenience Distribution Business Exchange took place Sept. 8–11 in Chicago and marked the first event hosted by the Convenience Distribution Association (CDA) since its rebranding from the American Wholesale Marketers Association.

Delivering the CDBX welcome address, Chairman Rob Sincavich took the opportunity to reflect on the recent enhancements the CDA has developed. He also previewed changes to come that will set the stage for future success in the convenience distribution industry.

The Convenience Distribution Association is the trade organization working on behalf of convenience products distributors in the United States. Its distributor members represent more than $92 billion in U.S convenience product sales, serving a wide variety of small retail formats.

The association’s new IdeaXchange — a dynamic, private, collaborative, members-only online community — was the first new initiative Sincavich highlighted.

“CDA’s top priority for 2015 has been to make it easier for members to communicate with each other on an ongoing basis,” the chairman said. “The IdeaXchange accomplishes this goal by providing instant access to CDA members and a place to share articles, ask questions, meet and learn from others in the industry.”

Other additions highlighted by Sincavich were:

• Manufacturer’s Advisory Council;
• 2017 Marketplace Planning Task Force;
• Enhanced government affairs program;
• New online tools to track legislation and contact lawmakers;
• New interactive website (www.cdaweb.net)
• New Member Relationship Manager with a single sign-on for all CDA web-based activities; and
• New app for iPhone and Android users featuring Convenience Distribution magazine and real-time CDA information.