Reading Time: 5 minutes As a trend, decluttering has probably never been more popular. Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has been translated into 30 languages and even spawned a Netflix series. And Kondo is only one of the dozens of decluttering and minimalist gurus who have acquired new celebrity status. While a life of rigid […] Read more
How to manage your smartphone before it manages you
Our devices can either enhance our lives or create endless frustration and confusion. Making the right choice isn’t that hard
Tapping into a new source of farm workers
Traditional labour supplies are running short. Why that may not be a bad thing
Reading Time: 5 minutes With farms getting bigger and with rural populations getting smaller, it’s no surprise you’re having trouble finding local employees with the farm skills and the experience you want. That doesn’t mean you have no options, however. The solution may be to look beyond candidates with ag experience and to begin to look in other sectors […] Read more
Want to be a more successful farmer? Find a mentor
How you can harness the power of mentorship
Reading Time: 4 minutes Research shows the five-year survival rate for small and medium enterprises jumps from fewer than half to more than 70 per cent if mentors are involved. That’s according to Virginia McGowan, a certified mentor who witnessed this powerful transformation while running a mentorship program for a group of 70 female entrepreneurs in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The […] Read more
‘Learn to discern’ in the information age
Are you sure you’re wise enough to know what you can believe on the internet, and what you shouldn’t?
Reading Time: 5 minutes We are living in the Information Age. We’ve created more information in the past few years than in all of human history, says neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Levitin in his book, A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age. In theory, the internet puts all this great material at our fingertips, but the […] Read more
Get smarter with your smartphone
Your phone is engineered to be addictive. No wonder it pays to set your own rules
Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s no doubt that smartphones are an incredible tool for farmers. We get the power of the internet in a device that fits in our pockets. With it comes the ability to check the weather, sell grain, listen to an audiobook, or identify a weed at the touch of our fingertips. Add in social media, […] Read more
How to strengthen your creativity muscle
Yes, you can become more creative, and more nimble as well. Then, both will help you meet the challenges you’ll face in 2019
Reading Time: 5 minutes Every recent study on the future of work seems to highlight the growing need for creative thinking skills. With the fast pace of change, business leaders are telling us that a foundation in business basics is no longer enough. Soft skills like creativity and creative problem solving will be essential for adapting to the ever-changing […] Read more
The good news on empathy
Empathy is becoming even more important in our disconnected world. Now, new research shows how we can all get better at relating
Reading Time: 4 minutes We tend to live immersed in bubbles made up of people who look like us, think like us, and behave like us. And it’s getting worse. As more and more of our communications move to the digital world, we become increasingly detached from one another and unable to appreciate another’s viewpoint if different from our […] Read more
Grow your people
On a global tour, Nuffield Scholar Reece Curwen finds the top farms always treat employees as an investment, not a cost
Reading Time: 5 minutes At 32, Reece Curwen farms with his family 500 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia, where the farm produces canola, barley, wheat and sheep on 8,000 hectares. Yet although the farm is so geographically distant from Canada, when it comes to the people management side of farming, it might be right next door. As […] Read more
Learning styles
Everyone learns their own way. So what’s best for you and your team?
Reading Time: 5 minutes We’re told there has never been a time in all of human history when things have changed at such a rapid pace. And this is especially true for agriculture. Nor are farmers just letting it happen. Instead, they’re embracing lifelong learning to prepare and to adapt, whether it’s learning new software programs, farm business management […] Read more
Reward positive behaviour
HR Management: If something is supposed to be a reward, it has to feel like one
Reading Time: 4 minutes With a tight labour market, farmers are looking for ways to attract and keep good employees. They naturally turn to incentives and rewards to try to keep employees happy and productive. However, getting it right when it comes to employee incentives is tricky business. “An incentive to one person can be poison to another,” explains […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
