My Farmboy Chronicles: Time is Money

I grew up on a medium sized cattle farm in a small community. It was a family entrepreneurship run by my grandfather, father and uncle. It was a hard life, filled full of physical and financial adversity, however it was also the perfect business to embody the freedom of the human spirit. Our purpose was clear and our commitment was strong and even though I didn’t know it at the time, I was being taught the foundations for chaos control!

Over the next few weeks, I am going to share small stories illustrating how our approach to farming was the basis for many of today’s digital transformation principles. Now before we get started I need to remind you of our biggest challenges; cattle, weather and machinery will always rebel against the best laid plans.

On the farm there are always endless projects and one day it was time to replace the top boards on the house deck. The weather forecast for the next few days was clear and sunny so it was the perfect time to get our untreated lumber from storage and start the two day project. I won’t bore you with day one details, suffice to say all the old flooring was removed, the lumber was hauled from storage and we were about a third of the way complete installing the new boards.

Day two there was a little bit more excitement. You see, the weather forecast had changed and there were thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. Just to make the crisis absolutely clear, we had untreated lumber that cost approx. $20 per board making for about a thousand dollar project. Now my grandfather was a very strategic man and the idea of replacing the deck again in a couple of years due to rotting wood was not an option. We were going to finish the installation and get that deck stained before any drop of rain touched that virgin surface.

We bust our asses that day, working towards one perfectly clear goal. Even though grandpa was obviously the boss, we worked as two peers willing to listen to ideas, help at a moments notice and provide moments of encouragement – “Move your ass boy!” Haha, it was a good day, the last bit of stain went on about 15 minutes before the storm started and we enjoyed some sweets while the rain came down on our Picasso.

On the farm, time is money, simple as that. Everything we did was focused on this core belief. There was no bureaucracy, no organization hierarchy and if the situation demanded it, you made the decision by yourself with no fear of repercussion. Digital transformation is exactly this. Of course, much like any sport, you need skilled players, field boundaries and rules of the game before everyone will come to watch your brilliance. However, imagine what we could accomplish in our business, if we worked in this way. We definitely accomplished a lot working this way on the farm.

Disagree, let me know, hearing other opinions is the best way to learn.

#DigitalTransformation #Autonomy #Principles #empowered #speedtomarket