In the words of Winston Churchill...........

Much of the history behind our agribusiness and food industry is built on the stories of people that had big hairy audacious goals (BHAG).

They were larger-than-life characters with a compelling and inspiring vision of the future.  Indeed many of them were actually politicians.

Now would be a good time to have these people around.  They would revel in the opportunities before us.

Unfortunately, a different story is emerging.  There is new evidence to suggest that our agribusiness and food industry will not take advantage of the global food boom.  We are largely uninspired and will miss out.

A broad assessment is that Australia suffers from a bad case of short-termism.

So how does this erode our capacity to capture new market opportunities?

 

Short-termism is a breeding ground for two key challenges in business: the problem of shifting the burden and the problem of diminishing goals.

Put simply it means rather than improve the performance of the business, we lower our aspirations.

Consequently, as the business stops growing we then become addicted to seeking quick fixes.  It's someone else's problem.  An example of this is a heavy reliance on Government.

The impact is an industry not healthy enough to capture the global food boom.

Look closely and you’ll see that short-termism has become big business.  I find this very disturbing.

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 away at what little margin is left with no real vision of the future.

In the words of a man with compelling vision, Sir Winston Churchill, "sure I am that this day now we are the masters of our fate."

Now is the time for some big hairy audacious goals.

Let’s hear them.  We all want to be inspired.