The Urban Farmer: Adapt or Die – The Importance of Being Flexible with Ideas and Expectations (FSFS60B)

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“At too many companies, and in too many hapless careers, the number one imperative is to avoid failure and embarrassment associated therewith at all costs. My take, failure, supported by wildly imaginative hypotheses and incredibly hard work, is something that companies and individuals must embrace. Frankly at all costs. Unless you’re stretching… wildly, you’re not going to reach that brass ring called hyper success amidst a brawl with no rules.” Tom Peters

The market and nature of small scale farming is too dynamic.

To succeed you have to be dynamic as well.

That will mean trying things that don’t work, and trying things not knowing if they will work.

You’re going to have to make assumptions and best guesses. You’re going to have to adapt.

And that’s what today’s episode is all about… adapting and switching it up on the fly…

Adaptability on the farm…

  • How do you get better at doing what you are doing?
    • Just do it a bunch.  Try to fix things, learn, build some confidence.  
    • Pay for some outside help.
    • Accepting that everything will not always work.  Especially in the beginning.
      • But as you advance you will have more experience and knowledge to draw from.  
  • Is the ability to shift too easy?
    • Meaning at times you need to be able to stick with it and figure it out.  And sometimes the only way to do that is to plow forward.
  • Sometimes it’s better to just stop producing something than try to sell it into a crowded market.
    • Growing the product can take a lot of time and effort.  IF you aren’t selling it then you are doing all that work for nothing.
  • If short terms prospects looking poor, it may be worth sacrificing the short term to get crops in the ground that have a better potential return down the line.
  • This becomes an important strategy when you are tight on space, when the season is winding down (need to get new crops established), and when markets are at the peak and you can move a lot of another product.
  • Take a small short term loss for a bigger longer term gain.

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