"What could we be doing better?"

In good economies and bad, a question I'm frequently asked by laser owners is, "What else can I be doing with my laser?"
I think that's a great question and one that I should try to get to in days to come but I'd like to tackle another topic first. It's one that stands to make some people more than a little defensive, uneasy, maybe angry.
The question that I think we all should ask ourselves more often is, "What could we be doing better!?!"
The football fans out there may remember Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills head coach for their record 4 straight trips to the Super Bowl. While I've never seen a formal quotation, it's been reported that Coach Levy felt that one of major strengths of the franchise at that time was their ability to self scout. Basically, they constantly asked themselves, "What could we be doing better or differently?"
While the answers to this question are sometimes not pretty, they can be critical to the success of any franchise or business. When is the last time you or someone you trust took a hard, honest look at your business and how you're operating these days? Of course, the investigation may bring some difficult issues to the table but isn't it always better to acknowledge problems as opposed to ignoring them? And, to take the glass-half-full approach, maybe you'll find that you're doing things very efficiently. If nothing else, it'll give you peace of mind that at least this part of your life is running smoothly.
In good economic times and in difficult economic times, I have to agree with Marv that asking yourself, "What could we be doing differently?" might be the difference between outstanding achievement and failure.