If you have ever flown you heard the preflight safety information. It is the same on all airlines including international flights.

The flight attendant explains where the emergency exits are on the aircraft.

They close with, “Take a moment to locate your closest exit in case of an emergency. Your closest exit may be behind you.”

The airlines must realize how most humans think.

More than once that reminder caused me to look behind me. Looking forward I could see the exit sign and the exits. I entered the plane through one of them and watched food and beverages loaded through the other.

They were 10 rows ahead of me I was focused on them. I knew they worked. I was comfortable. I had my emergency exit until I heard, “Your closest exit may be behind you.” I turned my head and realized I was only two rows away from an emergency exit behind my seat.

In the interest of my wife and my safety, I changed my mind and had a new emergency exit.

It is easy to focus on the easy, the common, the familiar. We can follow the crowd and do or believe what everyone else does. This is never the best way. It is the average way. Sometimes it is the wrong way.

Almost 500 years ago the Italian scientist and astronomer Galileo was put on trial for his life because of his belief the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun.

The commonly held belief and church theology in 1633 was the sun and planets revolved around the earth. Galileo was convicted of heresy for his scientific beliefs. He avoided death but lived out the remainder of his life under house arrest.

Today we know Galileo was right.

Unfortunately, Italy didn’t guarantee freedom of speech in 1633 as we do in the USA. Every school child knows the earth goes around the sun. It isn’t theory.

We have hard data and pictures from space proving Galileo right. Galileo “looked behind” as I did on the plane and found a new truth.

All true scientists understand science is never settled. The Scientific Method we learned in seventh grade science is circular. It starts and ends with Observe and Question.

Learning is a lifelong process. The most dangerous thing we can do is to close our minds to new data and change.

No one has all the right answers. At our National Speakers Association Conventions, I was surprised to see some of the most successful Hall of Fame Speakers on the front row in breakout sessions taking notes when speakers far less experienced are presenting. It took a few years for me to understand, the reason they were Hall of Fame Speakers is they never quit learning from others.

Free speech and open honest discussion is essential to our economic success as individuals and as a country. We don’t have to always agree.

If we listen with an open mind we can learn something from everyone. America is built on new ideas and finding better ways to do things. Every new idea and theory won’t work. We can learn from failure and make changes.

The world is changing fast. John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco and current CEO of JC2 Ventures said at a recent Conference, “If you don’t innovate fast, disrupt your industry, disrupt yourself, you’ll be left behind.”

We need to think differently. We can’t just look at the exit 10 rows ahead. We need to look around.

We need to innovate in our business and personal lives.

My wife, Lynnda has been trying to lose weight without success for decades using the latest diet from the supermarket tabloids.

In 2021 she got innovative and changed her fueling (eating) process. She made a lifestyle change and began eating differently.

She also has a coach she is accountable to. She lost 20 pounds and has kept it off.

Shale Crescent USA has been involved in three major disruptions. The first was realizing as a region we were producing over 30% of the US natural gas supply in 2017 up from 3%. It is now 35%.

Our region alone produces almost twice as much natural gas as China. This happened in less than 7 years as a result of new drilling technology. When we spoke in Tokyo in 2018 the Japanese had no idea. They thought, “All the gas was in Texas.”

The second disruption resulted from the Shale Crescent USA- IHSMarkit 2018 Study, Benefits, Risks, and Estimated Project Cash Flows of an Ethylene Project Located in the Shale Crescent USA versus the US Gulf Coast. For over 50 years the U.S. Gulf Coast was the most profitable place for U.S. petrochemical investments. The study showed this was no longer the case. A large amount of Gulf Coast natural gas and feedstock comes from the Shale Crescent USA. Most of their customers are located here.

The third disruption is, the USA is now the most profitable place in the world to manufacture not China. Global Economic Factors Align Favoring U.S. Plastic-Product Manufacturing over China based Operations, a new Shale Crescent USA Study shows why U.S. manufacturers can expand creating good jobs by taking advantage of U.S. energy & feedstock, and eliminating the cost of ocean shipping helping U.S. consumers. The quickest way to lower global emissions isn’t changing fuels. U.S. manufacturing will eliminate millions of miles of transportations and the resulting emissions. Another disruption.

Success in our personal and business lives in a fast changing world requires us to think differently and be open minded. We can learn from everyone even those we currently disagree with. We can work together for better solutions. There is always a better way if we look for it. The crowd is going the average way. We can take the front exit we see 10 rows ahead and be in the crowd or we can look behind us and be out the door. Make 2022 a great year.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com is the Director of Marketing and Sales for Shale Crescent USA. www.shalecrescentusa.com He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and numerous published articles.