The two emails almost crashed into each other on their way into my in-box.
The first was from columnist Gerald Pilger. “Check out my new ride,” Gerald said, and attached was a photo showing him about to climb onto a camel in North Africa.
Gerald farms near Edmonton, but is an “expedition” type of traveller, always returning home with fresh perspectives that lead to great columns, such as this month’s article on organic agriculture, inspired by his stops in India.
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The next email was from Edmonton-area farm business adviser Art Lange, who offered a valuable idea that I’ve never had anyone suggest to me before, and that I intend to follow up on in future issues.
Art said that our feature stories are excellent for portraying the work ethic and the dedication of today’s farmers.
But, he asked, are the farmers that we write about all work and no play? “I urge you and your writers to include information about the work-life balance of the people in all the articles that you are writing about,” he said.
It’s a great suggestion. We should be recognizing that a healthy attitude to work-life balance is essential to a healthy business, and to a well-lived life.
As Art added, it is also essential to a healthy family life, which is not only one of the foundations of successful farming, but can be one of its benefits as well.
And of course the benefits go even deeper than that, as Gerald, Art and many others, including work psychologist and Country Guide columnist Pierrette Desrosiers would agree.
Innovation is crucial to farming today. Farmers need to be innovative in their own right, plus they need to be better than ever at evaluating all the innovations that are being pushed at them by companies large and small, often with very large price tags.
But we know that innovativeness is a skill. It isn’t just something that you’re either born with or without. It’s a skill you can grow. Except… it grows best in a rich soil. Research across many industries proves that an individual’s innovation score increases when they are engaged in and excited about their work. Yet here too we know that engagement is one of the benefits of travel. Our minds are fresher and more vigorous when we travel and take time off, and this pays dividends in our performance when we return.
Innovation scores increase too when individuals develop new networks and make new connections, which is what happens when we travel. Sometimes that’s because we meet farmers from other regions, or because we meet travellers from other industries, or simply because we see how smart people in other countries have come up with their own solutions to the problems we all share.
So if you haven’t climbed aboard a camel this year, or driven south, make your plans now. Don’t worry. You can read your Country Guide on our website. And I promise, we’ll soon be telling you how the farmers in those stories obtain their work-life balance.
Are we getting it right? Let me know at [email protected].
