MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM FARMING

I married a farmer. I have no idea about farming three years ago, but now, I can apply almost most of the farming lessons to management solutions and techniques that so-called gurus out there would envy!
 
1.       You can’t hurry farming.
It has its seasons of planting, harvesting and in between all other supports that you do to ensure that the crops are growing healthy, not prone to diseases, pests, and other hazards.
 
You can’t hurry success, love, and business deals. They have their cycles and seasonality. To this end, you have to look at the long-term viability and ask yourself, will this give me a return of investment in the next 5, 10, 15 years.
 

2.       There is no substitute for great weather.
While there are hail, storm, floods, pests, and other weather disasters that befall farming, with enough sunshine, wind, rain, harvesting is a delightful experience!  My grandma has sat in a combine with my grandpa for more than 50 years until they can’t farm anymore! This is a tradition in farming communities. Young and old alike cherish this moment once a year.
 
You have to bring in the right amount of discipline, focus, persistence, and opportunism to every business opportunity. The batting average is 10% or less. The rest is part of growing up and being resilient to failures and momentary setbacks. Celebrate all the milestones and happy events dutifully.
 

3.       Negative self-talk doesn’t work.
There is too much on the line when they have not completed harvest yet. Any delay could mean a rotting unproductive, unsellable yield. Farmers are stressed out to the core. Negative self-talk in a pressure cooker environment will only yield to more negativity to the already volatile and stressful situation. It drains away those precious energies you need to tackle problems with level-headedness.
 
Instead of negative self-talk, be positive about the situation. Leave your rose-colored glasses, be realistic, and get to Plan B, C, or D. The moment you build contingencies to your decision-making, understand the risks factors, you will feel more confident to take the next action.
 

 
4.       Farming is all about inputs, not anymore!
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For the last 100 years, we saw great revolutions in the agricultural sector. In the last 20 years, there are more technologies and innovation in the industry that you can imagine. Newer editions of expensive tractors, rising price of arable land, and the stringent policies on quota system have discouraged a lot of people from farming. The cost of fuel, fertilizers, and other support inputs have become cost-prohibitive. More and more farmers are grouping their farms to the community to benefit from scale and leverage pooled resources.
 
What are you doing in your business to adapt to a changing environment? You didn’t need horses when the tractors came along. So this is true for other industries where changing practices, technology, and priorities have shifted consumer demand to other services, products, and techniques. Is your industry being driven away by cut-throat competition, stiffer regulations, or dying consumer attention? It is time to know what is hitting you before it is too late.