Thinking Outside the Box is one of those cliché’s in business that you can’t ignore… because the truth of the sentiment is so critical to breakthrough business growth.

Businesses that want to grow rapidly and dramatically, distinct from incrementally and slowly, need to consider transformational thinking. If you agree and are in a position of transformational leadership, or if in your business development efforts you can get your clients and prospects to begin to think along these lines, you can make a world of difference.

According to Super” CFO Michael O’Connor from Arsenal Capital Partners, budgets can be limiting. “Budget’s limit creativity and creativity and innovation are imperative to transformation. Thinking Outside the Box is always the way we generate changes in companies that foster dramatic growth.”

Everett Cook, Private Equity Firm Founding Partner and Principal of Pouschine Cook concurs, “Sometimes the “Thinking Outside the Box” ideas come from inside the box… from employees. Your employees will tell you what they are doing wrong if given the opportunity… if you really listen."

The method I recommend is letting your employees know that they will be heard… and every complaint and every suggestion will be acknowledged and validated, although not every idea will be acted upon. If you let your people know that you will prioritize the top 10 ideas and put them into place in a reasonable time frame or perhaps in an outstanding time frame.

That brings to mind listening… Listening deeper, broader and intentionally is a key secret to leadership, business development and career success, not to mention personal satisfaction. We’ll talk more about that next week. For now, what will you do this week to listen to your customers and stakeholders for trends, changes and ideas that will blow the lid of the box of your growth plans?