3 Seeds of Innovation Found in Farming

Over the past year, I have come to appreciate the way my life as a farmer for the first 17 years of my life prepared me for being an innovator and entrepreneur.

The core of innovation is found in change and finding better ways to do things faster and better. This is the goal of every business executive worth their salt.

On a dairy farm, things are happening ALL the time. Machines break, hoses come loose, doors get left open, machines break, animals are born, crops need to be planted then harvested, machines break. The work is continual. Did I mention that machines break?

Problem Solving 101 is found on the farm. I learned to do things faster. I did things better. I learned to change. I learned to fail. I learned to solve problems.

Most importantly, I learned to weather adversity. There is perhaps no more important attribute for an innovator and entrepreneur.

As I put this all together, I think there are three takeaways that farming teaches us about innovation. First, you simply can’t innovate from a lab. Innovation developed in one part of the company while the daily production work in another part has a low probability of succeeding. This is a big risk for companies that create innovation departments in order to insulate business executives from being bombarded with new ideas.

Second, daily focus on change and improvement (i.e. innovation) is the only option. Anything less than daily commitment is sure to foster complacency and acceptance of the status quo – until you see your competitor blowing past you.

Third, get your hands dirty and don’t be scared off by foul smells. Figuring out the best way to change something is hard work. People fear the unknown and new processes. Yes, things can get messy.

Improvement in productivity happens through changing processes and behaviors. If your focus is doing things the same way, then you need to reconsider your focus.

The coded data in your systems is not likely to change either process or behavior. On the other hand, the facts, circumstances and decisions residing in your sentence data is ready to tell you almost instantaneously where you can improve your business.

SDRefinery AI is ready to help you clean out the dirty barn that you know is a problem but continue to ignore. Today is the day to make it happen.