The pulp and paper industry, like any other entity or enterprise on earth, makes mistakes every day. You can read about the industry mistakes here in the pages of Paperitalo Publications. I'll not point out any specific ones for the sake of avoiding embarrassing any parties involved, but if you read between the lines of many news stories you'll see them.

Some of us older members of the industry are called experienced. You've probably heard the old sayings that experience people are just ones who have survived their mistakes. It is true and it is important. Mistakes are an extremely valuable teacher; far more valuable than the "tuition" they extract in the present when assessed with a longer-term view.

You'll see companies buy mills, sell mills and turn their businesses upside down. They are acting on (hopefully) a correct valuation of their mistakes. Sometimes the profit is one-sided, sometimes not. I remember years ago a company buying a certain mill. They could not make a go of it, but they were able to sell it for more than they paid for it. The new owner has made a large profit with that mill. Both one, and even the company not in this narrative, the original owner came out profitably, too. Mistakes were made, but so were profits.

We see this often among competitors. One dives into a market, another watches. The first party experiences a disaster, the party sitting on the sidelines watches events transpire and enters the market with a different slant, making money all the way.

Look for mistakes, your own and others. Then develop a plan to profit from them.

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.