I had the good fortune yesterday to attend the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) Conference and Trade Show in Toronto.

Ian Martin Ltd had a booth in the trade show area so I got to stand around talking to HR Pros all day.  I talked to someone who came all the way from Halifax to attend the conference.  The agenda was packed with top shelf sessions and there was a lot of great energy in the whole convention centre.

Perhaps the best part of the day was lunch.  The rubber chicken was nothing to write home about but the keynote speaker was Bill Taylor, one of the Founding Editors of Fast Company magazine.

He told one great story after another.  It was just awesome.  He studies companies that are doing things right and then distills their experience into little nuggets that you can tuck into the back of your mind.  When you find yourself having a crappy day, you pull out one of these inspire-o-nuggets and chew on it for a while.  It is sure to give you a refreshed perspective and maybe some new energy to tackle the pile of stuff that needs to be done.

• Don’t let what you don’t know limit your imagination.
• Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?
• Just because you can enter a space/role/project, does not mean that you should especially if it runs counter to your culture or values.
• It used to be that the big, established companies would win business by default.  Now it is the smart companies that are winning business.

You can read more about Bill here and here.