Getting Yourself on the Right Team!
“I don’t ask the players if they want to win. I ask them if they can live with losing, because if they can, that is exactly what they’ll get since it’s so much easier to have.”
I love this quote from former Notre Dame head football coach Lou Holtz because it succinctly says so very much. Which team do you want to be on with your dairy operation?
Here is an excerpt from an article I recently wrote for the October 2013 issue of the Western Dairy Business:
Please allow me provide you with some points of comparison for two teams, because there are consequences involved with both:
1.) ” The managers on the A Team have a definite plan that they follow very closely. Of course, they adjust their path occasionally, but for the most part they stick to their plan. Why? They do so simply because they spent a lot of valuable time with their key advisers developing this plan that will take them closer to their desired objectives. Does the B Team have a plan? Certainly. They have even considered getting it out of the file drawer to review it once in a while. They just haven’t found the time to check it again, so sometimes they get off course…
2.) The A Team knows precisely where they are on a day to day basis in terms of herd health, milk production and reproduction. The B Team has considered collecting this information and maybe even putting together a daily summary report for their entire team, but they barely have enough time to keep the bills paid and meet with their banker regularly. One Nutritionist had suggested this, but they decided he just represented another cost that they could not afford…
3.) Members of the A Team seem to have a solid handle on their costs. They get surprised sometimes, but it’s not because they are asleep at the wheel. They adjust course and may substitute one product for another. However, this is never done blindly. They simply discuss it with the appropriate advisers. The B Team, on the other hand, keeps a close watch on their more successful neighbors. If they are trying something, it might be worthy of consideration, no?
4.) The A Team makes a lot of money farming, especially with the high feed costs we have seen the past several years. They invest farming funds carefully, and, as a result, achieve solid yields, which leads to stronger profitability. The B Team? Well, it’s not really their fault, and they would have hit better yields, but they couldn’t get their Crop Adviser or the fertilizer company to come out because their account balance was large and past due 120 days. However, as I mentioned earlier, they don’t feel it is their fault…
5.) Finally, members of the A Team are very teachable. They have been in business for a number of years, but they realize that the industry has changed. They realize that they must change, too. The B Team? Their leader exclaimed to one young adviser that, “If he followed every recommendation he had received over the prior 20 years and they had all worked as planned, his cows would be producing 120 pounds day.” Sounds like it may have been worthy of consideration, in comparison to the 62 pounds per cow per day he was currently hitting…
What’s the message for us as managers? First, we need a solid plan. Second, we need to follow it and adjust course as needed, because none of us has a crystal ball into the future. We also need to realize that all of our decisions (or lack of them) have consequences. They can also impact our credibility with vendors, bankers, our business partners, and other key players, all of which will have consequences.
Which Team do you want your operation to represent?” I’m going with the A Team! To learn more about the points mentioned above, get a copy of my latest book, The Five Factors Guaranteed to Impact Your Future, at: https://www.createspace.com/4336264
