More importantly, you have the opportunity to employ some new people who have not spent the past 10 years doing things, you know, "The Way We've Always Done Things Here."

We'll just call that "The Way" for short.

On a recent trip to Utah, I toured the ZERO Corporation, the outfit that since 1938 has made those sleek shiny Haliburton aluminum briefcases into which engineers and professional photographers like to put their goodies for travel.

I'm not saying that ZERO had a problem with "The Way" but it's a fact that they did make pretty much the same briefcase -- without change -- for 60 years. (Ok, for you purists who know these James Bond-ian briefcases, they did add a couple of longitudinal ridges for strength in the ONE visible design change in the past 60 years.)

ZERO's specialty is drawing aluminum into boxy utilitarian shapes, then heating it to over 900 degrees to make it as strong as cold rolled steel, but at one-fourth the weight. For years, they were the manufacturer of choice for very strong boxes to protect military electronics gear that gets dropped out of aircraft.

ZERO's Salt Lake City location is a good case in point, no pun intended, that a new location equals new employees, and new employees equal new ideas. New ideas equal more money, and ZERO is now cashing in big time on one employee who went slightly counter to "The Way."

That employee, credit manager Rick Bower, who was acquired along with the move to Salt Lake City back in 1992, came up with an idea. Why not protect the goodies of the obsessive and affluent?

So, they tried high-end gun cases. Results were not bad. Then they tried specially anodized computer cases. The results were still not bad. Then cases for baseball card collectors. Still not bad.

The results were slightly beyond spectacular.

I'm not a cigar guy, but I'm tempted to buy a few just to carry around in these cool little cases that, in a pinch, you could drive your car up on to change the oil, or maybe use to stop a bullet.

Imagine how fun: "Bond...James Bond. Have a cigar?"

The cigar case account is now incredibly their third largest customer, and their profitability has shot up dramatically due to the relatively small amount of raw materials involved.

All from an employee who didn't see "The Way" the same way it had been seen before.

Of course, you don't have to move your company to get that one great idea to make your company more profitable. You only need to hire one more person, right?

Maybe. Let's reflect further. The relocation process modernizes equipment, refreshes the environment and makes for an atmosphere where people are thinking about change, improvement, efficiency and, well, new stuff.

When a company relocates, the visual, auditory and kinesthetic reinforcements and reminders of "The Way We Do Things Around Here" disappear and thus cease to have their silent and deadly effect on creativity.

More simply stated: moving changes more than location. It changes nearly everything.

Careful relocation won't replace strategic market planning anytime soon, but you couldn't prove that by looking at the ZERO corporation.