Its not easy to get detailed, updated information about your competitors: their strengths, weaknesses, and current practices; or about organizations that are engaging in certain endeavors that are relevant to what you think you may be doing in the future.

You can speak to their former employees and pore over every comment about the firms in the press and online, but still, youre just getting a map.

Maps, as you know, are somewhat handy, but they arent the territory.

Theres nothing quite as valuable as stepping onto that foreign shore if you want to learn something about a different culture.

But how can you get into organizations to learn about them?

One way is by proposing a joint venture and another is by applying for one of their advertised positions.

In many cases, if you seem credible and sincere, and if youre willing to pay for an airline ticket, theyll throw their doors open to you. More important, theyll tell you exactly what you want to know about how they make their money, and the key practices that are most pertinent to doing it.

I have done this several times, and Im astonished how porous and transparent managers are willing to be.

In one case I learned a great deal about a certain area of consulting that I was able to capitalize on right away.

In another situation, I learned exactly how two survey companies operated, and this information helped me to determine whether and how I wanted to enter those fields.

Recently, I was developing a product line pertaining to a specific topic, and I discovered a company, not in my field, had some expertise in that area. My one day visit became a customized tutorial.

I asked to sit in on one of their training sessions and they let me, and they told me a great deal that I found helpful.

Of all of the ways to invest in your personal and professional development, I cannot think of a more cost effective method.

Youd probably be willing to pay up to several hundred dollars for a generic, watered down public seminar that only peripherally relates to your needs.

Why not take as much, or even less, and have someone teach you exactly what you need to know?