Think Like A Visitor

Over the years, I've come to believe that one of the most dangerous things a destination marketing organization  (DMO)  CEO can say is, "I already know the answer." Experience is a wonderful teacher, but it can also make us intellectually lazy. We begin recognizing familiar problems, reaching for familiar solutions, and assuming that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow. I've certainly been guilty of that. After nearly three decades in destination marketing, I learned that the most consequential leadership decisions rarely came from knowing more than everyone else. They came from being willing to think differently, question my assumptions, and occasionally admit that I didn't know nearly as much as I thought I did. Critical thinking isn't simply the ability to analyze information. It's a discipline, a continuous process of obse...