This week I have had a business meeting where my business colleague presented me as a business person “who brings the farmers' point of view into the discussion." I’m proud to be a business person, humanist, environmentalist, innovator, and scientist who remembers every day WHY we do what we do. In every meeting and every discussion, I remember my obligations to farmers' wellbeing, consumers' health, and all this while protecting the environment. "DIFFERENT" IS GOOD This reminds me that 17 years ago (2004), I wanted to take part in an entrepreneurship course planned, run, and financed by the Israeli low-tech unique innovator, industrialist, and billionaire Mr. Stef Wertheimer. I remember standing in front of the course committee, sharing my background and history. I felt insecure, for I had no business background. But then, when I finished telling about myself, Stef turned to the committee members and me and said, "He did not study business; he has a chance to succeed!" With the same spirit, but from a different perspective, Prof. Clayton Christensen provided the academic explanation for Stef’s insight. Prof. Christensen (60m) says; “The development of the spreadsheet has been a pox for mankind… it allows analysts to effortlessly build financial models of any company… and that allows them, the analysts, to take their models to executives, and teach executives of how to run the companies… The job of a general manager is to assemble and ship numbers… questions about where is growth going to come from? Who are our competitors, and what are they doing? Actually, rarely come up in management meetings… and innovation therefore is actually very hard to do.” Additionally, highly recommended to watch (20m).
From what I can see in 100’s of my meetings around the globe, too many “executives” have tried and failed to help the emerging economies pull out of their misery and poverty. Maybe it is time to take a different approach, to think and act differently? I was proud to find myself as the one talking about Agriculture in Africa at the Trade With Africa Business Summit 2021” that took place two weeks ago (May 31st – June 4th). I used the opportunity to present a different approach to the one currently used and accepted by many. Following is the link to the presentation and lecture I delivered there - “From Agriculture To Agro-industry". |