The Complex Farmer

Companies that have the mojo are characterized by an organizational ecology that reminds me of things learned growing up on a farm. There are many critical factors that you cannot control when you are a farmer - weather being one of the most notable. Good farmers know that and all farmers talk about it obsessively. What they do, however, is adapt to the weather as much as possible within the range of options possible. You can delay cutting your hay if it looks like rain. You can plant a bit earlier if you've been running out of time on the harvest cycle - or are trying a new crop that has a longer growing season. You can plant later if it seems to you that the frost hazard seems likely to go a bit late.

Many organizations still perpetuate a leadership DNA that supports control as a tool for growth. What is often missed is that the opposite of control is not disaster. The opposite of control is farmer. True. Read it again. Even the most task-oriented farmer is faced nearly everyday with the reminder that he or she lives with a whole herd of contingencies. A farmer is in a dynamic dance with the objectives he or she aims at and the uncontrolled elements of the environment. This does not equal checking out, giving up, letting go. It is a realization of limits and creative tensions.

Most important, every farmer knows that he or she does not make anything grow. They get the right things in the right place, nurture the plants or animals, and adapt as much as possible within the environmental limits that surround them.

The farmer(or gardener) as leader. I'm going to keep thinking of how this relates to complexity theory and ingenuity.