Purposeful Growth in the Age of Consolidation

Tom Field, PhDEngler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program

University of Nebraska

Empowering people in the courageous pursuit of their purpose!

engler.unl.edu

What story from the past year is the best descriptor of your organization?

What’s your desired legacy?

Relationships Processes Relevancy

Front of houseefforts

Back of house efforts

Supply Chain Partners

Four Imperatives

Farmer Owned

Disruptive Trends

Big Data

Technology

Changing Demographics

Markets

Societalshifts

Future

Sensing

IoT

Geo -Positioning

Data Analytics Automation

IntegrationMonitoring –

aerial & ground

Automation

Analysis & Decisions

Capability creation

Innovate process & product & markets

Resource Utilization

Adapted from Leu, et al. Stanford Univ.

21

60

Centennials (Gen Z)

Millenials(Gen Y)

Gen X Boomers Mature

Born: 1997 to present 1979-1996 1965-1978 1946-1964 Prior to 1964

# S 79.4 million 65.7 million 75.5 million 55 million

Externalities Unceasing volatility

Booms and Busts

Stagnation Post-war Boom Global Crisis

Personality Pragmatic Authentic Self Reliance Individualistic Duty

Work My Terms Fluid Challenging Birthright Contract

Philosophy Be You You Live Once On Your Own Fountain of Youth The American Way

Technology Cloud, IOT, AI Digital Junkies Tools to Advance

Requirement to stay in game

Connections

Age Distribution of Farm Principal Operators

0.06

0.1

0.22

0.29

0.21

0.12

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

< 34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 >75

2 x more farmers over 65 than under 45

Half of your clientswill likely exit the business by2030

Do our current systems, protocols, services and capabilities align with future customer needs?

1. Exceptionally well2. Reasonably well3. The gap concerns us4. We don’t have enough information to

answer with confidence

By 2050……

65%

Which disruptions make

me uneasy?

Which disruptions

create opportunty?

US

THEM

THEM

US

Size/complexity come at a price:

Less responsive & agileLess clear communicationSilos are harder to avoidFocus driftsExecution suffers

“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs. It’s about deliberately choosing to be different.”Michael Porter

WHYHOW

WHAT

Nimble

SolutionsDriven

Recover Quickly from Mistakes

Identify Critical Issues

Transparency is Norm

Utilize Full Talent and Experience Spectrum

Get Smarter Over Time

People (especially leaders) Learn From Each Other

Adapted from:The AdvantageLencioni

Healthy Organizations Capable of DrivingInnovation

More like?A B

“Forget the giants. (More or less.)

Economic excellence is largely built more upon a hearty base of middle-sized superstars.”

Tom Peters

Leadership

Community

RelationshipsCulture

Passion

Profit

Profitable Small Giants

BIW

How + Why > What

Relationships

FlexibleCreative

Unconventional

Intentional

Building cultureDon’t misread it as soft and squishy – it’s about:AccountabilityAdult conversationsActive discovery through debate and experimentation End of the day:

CULTURE DRIVES RESULTS

What if we started from

scratch?

What if we build the best

company in the world?