Page 4 - CMA PROfiles Spring 2020

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Hindsight can make you wince — all of that “could have,” asked to think about how hindsight can be a helpful thing for my
“should have,” “I wish I would have” thinking can beat you up. business and not just something that makes me feel regret, I’ve

I was asked to think about hindsight for this issue, and it didn’t come up with a few ideas.
take me long to come up with a list of things I would have done First, I can remember this list the next time I’m feeling hesitant
differently had I known more at the time. about taking a big leap; what I know now is that some of my
Ž I would have sucked it up and invested in some of the decisions were driven by fear or lack of confidence in my
pricey things that scared me back then — a CNC and the instincts. I can also try to make some of these missteps or
CabinetVision software I bought years later, for example. regrets valuable by sharing them with people I meet who are just
Things that I thought were too expensive back then, I scoff at starting out; I know all too well how much impact it makes when
now; these things have made a big difference in our ability to people who are farther down the road than you are take time to
do our work. share some hard-earned wisdom.
Ž There was a point when we grew too fast, and I hired too And maybe the best way to harness hindsight is to pay attention
many people. It’s easy to make the leap that you need more to it regularly — getting in the habit of taking time to think about
people when the work is really flowing in, but with a little recent projects or business decisions with a critical eye. Is there
hindsight, I realized that I had too many employees. What I anything we could have done better? Should we do anything
really needed was differently next time?
more efficiency. To be honest, this is
Ž I wish I had done Maybe the best way to harness hindsight is to pay attention to not something I’ve
more networking thought about doing in
and educational it regularly – getting in the habit of taking time to think about my shop on a regular
events back at the recent projects or business decisions with a critical eye. basis. We’re usually in
beginning when a hurry, moving from
I needed it most, one project to the next,
which leads me to and I’m sure that’s the
the reason I’m sharing my thoughts with you on this page: case for a lot of businesses. But I’m going to take a cue from this
The CMA. I wish I had known it existed when I started my year’s theme and try to make a habit of looking back to make my
business. The network of people I now call on whenever a business better; I hope you will, too.
question or dilemma comes up would have been invaluable
back then. I stumbled across the CMA while walking the floor
at IWF a few years after I got up and running; I noticed the
booth, and I stopped. It was a lucky break for me. Chris Dehmer
I can’t go back and change any of those things. But after being President, Cabinet Makers Association

2 PROFILES SPRING 2020