25 Secrets of the World's Best Companies

I love secrets even living in a small town where sometimes I'd just as soon not know their secrets. But this is a different kind of secret; it's ones that will help you grow your business. It's Best Kept Secrets of the World's Best Companies. They're 25 of them. And they're pretty surprising ones.

Some obvious ones are Compare everything you do against your rivals. Ok, got that one.

And Seek brutally honest feedback from customers. That's one of those so obvious you wonder why it's a secret. But to many companies that is a secret idea: talk to your customers. Oooo.Whisper it.

But how about bad news folders. This company had such a folder delivered to their CEO daily from his regional managers that included everything from worker injuries to robbery of delivery trucks to counterfiet toothpaste tubes. Just staying ahead of the game.

Or the Tech Box - create lending library of ideas. What's a tech box? ... a freezer-size chest of drawers in each of its seven offices around the world. Inside each is the same library of up to 2,000 gadgets, materials, textiles, and artifacts that keep the creative gears of Ideo designers in constant motion.

Or Get the directors out of the boardroom.

Or Let employees choose their leaders.  Who better to judge a new employee than those who'll work with the new employee?

Keep retirees in the labor pool. That's gonna take on importance as my colleagues in the boomer generation grow gracefully into the evening.

Anyway, there's 25 tips that are outside the normal ones on such a list.