A friend of mine is a financial planner. I asked him recently what he thought of the current recession. His response: “It’s great — if you’ve got a bit of fiscal flexibility and are willing to increase your risk, this is the perfect time to diversify your portfolio.” 

Intrigued because we are in a ”global economic downturn” and popular opinion tells us to be conservative, batten-down the hatches and ride out the economic storm. Stay safe. My friend explained: “That’s the right strategy for most people. But for those with some flexibility there’s another way to look at things: EVERYTHING IS ON SALE.”   

What a concept! A financial sale! My friend went on to explain that market values are down and if you’re one of the lucky few with some spare cash, time and patience, you can make some investments today that will benefit you in the long term. I’m not advocating or suggesting we all run out and spend madly.* Not at all. Don’t do that without sound, professional, personal investment advice. (i.e., Go see your investment advisor first.) I’m telling you this story because what I took away from that conversation is not about personal finances. It’s that a slight shift in perspective can create receptiveness to opportunity.  

That’s what Communitech’s 2009 Tech Leadership Conference on May 14^th is all about: shifting perspective, accepting the possibility of opportunity and then pursuing it. Even when the world is busy telling you not to.  

The other way to look at the conference, which is all about “bucking the trend,” is that it’s time for companies to recognize that times are tough; get over it; and get on with building business. And we’re bringing in experts like Seth Godin, Jeremy Gutsche and Paul Kedrosky to help.

You can read more about the conference here. And if you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time. Hope to see you there. 

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*Caveat. Unless it’s spending madly on THIS and I’m invited.