Why does a business shrink and struggle to survive the recession? Is it that market demand has evaporated due to all-around belt-tightening? Is it that technological obsolescence becomes more obvious as competition for those sparse dollars heats up? Every company that has experienced a business decline is asking these questions and dozens more. It would appear that we do become complacent when times are good. So, what do we become when times are not so good? We become smarter. 

I just read about a major newspaper that has lost a quarter of its circulation this year. I’m no expert on the newspaper industry, but isn’t such a decline way overdue. When I’m at a hotel, I do like to open my hotel room door in the morning and pick up that fresh copy of USA Today. I can get a snapshot of global news without turning on my laptop and without the noise that TV often represents. However, back at home, I’d rather just click on CNN.com and have the world of news at my fingertips. Our family stopped getting the local paper at home years ago. Now, we even get our coupons online.

I love it when I read about companies that are re-inventing their products and services. Re-invent doesn’t necessarily mean throw out the old and bring in the new. It means to take what you know and make whatever you do next smarter. For example, let’s have a contest to suggest how newspapers could be smarter at what they do. How can we all be smarter at whatever we do next?

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