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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 JA N UA R Y 1 3 , 2 0 2 0 Eliot library that will create additional space for future enrichment program- ming for children and adults. The city of Portland announced that the Barron Center reopened its short-term skilled nursing unit offering post-acute rehabilitation services including physical, occupational and speech therapy. Owners of Jay mill fighting takeover bid Verso Corp. (NYSE: VRS), owner of the Jay paper mill, is warding off a takeover bid that is expected to come to a showdown at the company's annual meeting, on Jan. 31. e company issued a 3,000-word letter making its case why they should reject board nominations by a group of three private equity firms that own nearly 10% of outstanding Verso stock. Since 2017, Atlas Holdings, Blue Wolf Capital Advisors and Lapetus Capital have made other attempts to acquire Verso. In advance of the annual meeting, the firms have nominated three Q: How can my organization benefit from innovation? ACE advises: Organizations that succeed today are the ones that learn and innovate faster than their competition. The key is experimentation at every level. The concept is based on three key ideas: 1. The world is more complex and changing faster than at any other time in history. The internet, open-sourced soft- ware and social media allow customers to quickly find and switch to better solutions. 2. Our knowledge as individuals and organizations is not fixed. Our brains are like muscles; they will grow in strength when challenged, but we don't learn without repeated prac- tice and failure. 3. Small, repeated improvements have much greater effects than occasional major projects. This is the compound effect – the same reason that if you start investing just a few dol- lars every day at age 20 you can retire a millionaire. The best sources of innovative ideas are your custom- ers. Ask them about their needs and behaviors. Talk to as many as you can; focus on gaining knowledge, not selling. Use customer ideas and what you learn about their needs to develop new products, services, features, benefits and offers. Test the innovative ideas with simple experiments, addressing one need at a time. Keep the most-desired features and benefits. Many top companies have grown by experimentation, and you can do the same. Imagine what your culture will be if you learn what cus- tomers value and adjust quickly, developing good habits for both leaders and employees and continuously improving overall outcomes. A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y S t e v e M u s i c a , L e a n E a s t The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Steve Musica, president of Lean East, specializes in increasing innovation, process improvement and developing high performing organizations. Contact him at steve@leaneast.com. A healthy smile can make all the difference. Protect yours with dental insurance backed by the nation's largest network of dentists. NortheastDeltaDental.com STAND OUT IN A SEA OF SAMENESS WITH YOUR SMILE POWER! NEDD_1_2 PAGE_ MAINEBIZ_consumer V2.indd 1 8/19/19 8:03 AM Many top companies have grown by experimentation, and you can do the same. C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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