TFGA article - Do not let short-termism undermine big hairy audacious goals Much of the history behind our agribusiness and food industry is built on the stories of what might be termed “big hairy audacious goals”. The term “big hairy audacious goal” was introduced by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1994 book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. The term is meant to be compelling for team members, to align them towards a common goal - even when that goal may seem to be unachievable. The importance of a BHAG (pronounced Bee-hag) is not its feasibility; it’s in the pursuit of its execution. The BHAG, in effect, incorporates the thrill of the chase, as much as the reality of the vision. It may be Henry Ford seeking to get everyone owning a car; or an Australian yachting syndicate vowing to regain the America’s Cup. It might be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates believing everyone would in time own at least one personal computing device. Closer to home, it might be Stephen King in the 1960s establishing a poppy industry in Tasmania that is now the worlds largest producer of opium alkaloids for the pharmaceutical market; or Tasmanian whiskey producers who are now winning international awards. Unfortunately, as a society, we seem to suffer from what may be described as short-termism. This erodes our capacity to capture new opportunities. Short-termism is the breeding ground for two challenges in business: the problem of shifting the burden and the problem of diminishing goals. Instead of improving a business’s performance, aspirations and expectations are lowered. In so doing, we fail to meet our potential. Businesses stop growing, and people seek scapegoats or quick fixes and band-aid measures. The spin doctors come out of their cupboards: it’s somebody else’s fault, somebody else is to blame. Sound familiar? Short-termism itself has become big business. There are those that seek to gain by ensuring nothing ever really happens. Slicing and dicing so there is no momentum. They thrive on spin and chaos; clipping the ticket on what little margin is left in industry, with no real vision of the future. Many Tasmanian farmers are larger-than-life characters with compelling and inspiring visions of what the future might look like. They are can-do people, for whom nothing is impossible, and anything is achievable. These days, farmers work hard to take control of their future. They’re adopting and even driving, new technologies that are designed to minimise risk out of their businesses. It is true that they cannot control the weather, but that is one of the few remaining variables they can’t influence. Having said that, they can better manage these days how best to deal with the challenges that the weather brings. As an industry, too, we have taken the first steps to control our own destiny. Our Ag2025 vision is a strategy that emanates from industry, not government, but is based on working co-operatively with government and other stakeholders. The underlying premise of this strategy is that farmers must take responsibility for what happens in the future – in their own businesses and also working together to deliver industry-level outcomes. As an industry, it is our responsibility to come up with solutions. These may involve government support, as with the state’s irrigation program. However, fundamentally, we have to make our case and, at the end of the day, we rise or fall on our own initiatives and we put our money where our mouth is. Tasmanian farmers are not sitting back and watching opportunities slide by. They don’t shift the burden and they don’t point fingers. Many of them are working on big hairy audacious goals. We need more people like them in Tasmania, otherwise we might just miss the boat. That is the boat carrying the economic and trade opportunities that are ahead of us, the global food boom the experts tell us we are well-positioned to benefit from. And then we will miss out on the opportunities to secure a prosperous future for all Tasmanians. We all need to encourage and support the inspirational visionaries in this state, whether they be in the farming sector or elsewhere, and find ways to make their particular dreams, their big hairy audacious goals, become reality.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 01:24:43 +0000
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