On our way to an important bank meeting, my client turned to me and said, “I wish I had more time to prepare for this – I’ve been so busy I didn’t do a thing for the meeting.” “Are you kidding?” I asked. Busy? Doing what? So we analyzed it: 84 hours per week at the dairy, 21 hours firefighting, and 18 hours in meetings!
I love the following quote from General Eric Shinseki of the U.S. Army: “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
What is he saying? We’ve got to keep up with change! Be like the Boy Scouts, who are always ready to – “Improvise, Adapt, & Overcome!” Every producer has lots of new challenges: Higher Feed Expenses, Increasing Fuel Costs, and more Government Regulations.
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On our way to an important bank meeting, my client turned to me and said, “I wish I had more time to prepare of this – I’ve been so busy I didn’t do a thing for the meeting.” “Are you kidding?” I asked. Busy? Doing what? So we analyzed it: 84 hours per week at the dairy, 21 hours firefighting, and 18 hours in meetings!
In a typical week, the rest of his time was spent playing defense – filling out numerous forms, answering many “urgent” requests, and returning calls. He was spending about 6 of the 18 hours in meetings, listening to others talk about what they’re going to do or have recently done. He spent about 45 minutes actually doing work on new projects he’s currently involved in. And he spent exactly 15 minutes a week on inventing his next breakthrough.
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Remember the song entitled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? Humorous? Yes, you couldn’t help but smile when you heard it! Wish you could do so? Yes. Realistic? Probably Not!
This is a question many people are asking. I believe it’s something we need to be looking at regularly. As far as when you should fix them, that depends on many factors.
We’ve talked previously about setting goals! There are benefits to being prepared for crises that can occur in your business. We need to have a plan in place for these types of challenges.
Futurists Jim Taylor and Watts Wacker, in their book The 500 Year Delta, stated that every business should develop a “Disaster Agenda”. While all of us are faced with negative challenges and nobody wants to dwell on them, we would be well served if we have given these situations some forethought. This is true for a crisis that might occur in any part of your operation: herd health, nutrition, facilities, management, or finances.
What a tumultuous year! The last twelve months in the dairy industry looked like a cross between two of Dr. Seuss’ children’s books. On the one hand, it parallels If I Ran the Circus with its irrational supply and demand, particularly on commodities that are plentiful in comparison with their current usage, yet remain overpriced. On the other hand, our industry scenario seems to be replicating Stop That Ball with an economy that appears relatively lifeless, yet in other ways seems completely out of control when we look at the painful process of loan approvals and the dramatic changes in real estate. Hopefully, things will be appearing more normal again soon!
David Allen, in his book entitled Ready for Anything stated:
“You won’t see how to do it until you see yourself doing it. Our brain’s pattern-recognition mechanism is triggered by the images you identify with and the focus you hold. You see the outcome first, and then you are unconsciously made conscious of information. If you won’t see yourself having or doing something until you see how to do it, you’ll never recognize the methods, though they are all around you. Notice what you notice and how you make that happen.”
Previously, I talked about how to come up with ideas to improve your operation and implement positive change. “The Best way to manage change successfully is to create it.” Peter Drucker in his book, The Daily Drucker, discusses how to be a Change Leader! “One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it. In a period of upheavals, such as the one we are living in, change is the norm. To be sure, it is painful and risky, and above all it requires a great deal of very hard work.”
One of the most common problems faced by many businesses today revolves around their ability to obtain financing they need. This challenge becomes even more pronounced when we are faced with a tight lending environment. This has been compounded by the Sub Prime Mortgage mess and its related financial issues! This certainly magnifies the importance of maintaining a solid banking relationship.
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