Scythe & Spade Blog

You Reap What You Sow

by Chas Bonner

This famous phrase had its roots in the Bible (though others maintain there are more ancient origins). And while many may ask, “what place does this have in agriculture dialogue” hopefully, it will become clear. Finally, these are not necessarily sentiments of the company, but simply rants from me.

The United States and the developed world are finally reaping what has been sown for 50+ years. Unfortunately, politicians in a democratic system are elected by voters, and they quickly recognize that to be elected and re-elected for a lifetime of “service,” (perhaps self-service?) they must give voters whatever they want. Countless surveys illustrate that voters want more goods and services, but do not want to pay for them. “Tax the other guys,” and all of us are “the other guys.” As a result, we do pay for those goods and services, but pay on credit which does not come due for years, and is rolled over and over and over. Therefore we give to later generations $Trillions of debt, broken Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, a deteriorating national infrastructure, growing environmental issues, and costly wars in every corner of the world.

When and what and for whom is the day of reckoning?

We will not speculate on the answers to that question, but can say with assurance that agriculture should be the “last man standing.” Who can do without food or water, and as it becomes more precious to the world’s population, the importance of all of you who farm and ranch and distribute food becomes critical.

It is time for you to reap, although wisely.

Use of Checklists

by Chas Bonner

As organizations become larger and more complex, details and follow-through often fall through the cracks. One can trace the loss to numerous sources, some direct, some indirect, some important and some not. The question becomes: How does a growing organization prevent loss of information which inevitably creates loss of productivity and performance, and eventually loss of customers?

To prevent details, data, and responsibilities from getting lost, there are a myriad of different courses that can be followed. We have found that one of the best is the use of checklists to which we can refer to make sure all tasks are covered. Furthermore, this checklist can be used by everyone in the organization so each of us knows the tasks that must be done, and the expected outcomes. The lists serve as useful reminders.

Each step of each process is owned by one person, not by the organization or it will suffer what we call “The Dilution of Responsibility Theory”---when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible, and therefore no one can be held accountable. Even if it is a business checklist, responsibility for each step must be owned by an individual.

At Scythe & Spade, one of the methods we use to make sure activities are known and understood is our daily “tailgate meetings.” During these 5-10 minute meetings, each of us outlines his or her checklist of activity for the day. In doing so, it reminds others of necessary follow-up, it triggers new activity, and it reminds us of overlooked things that would otherwise fall through the cracks---sometimes permanently.