My observation of farms is that they are ridged environments. Change is slow and painful. Change is resisted by owners and employees. The hardest thing we do is change. The word ‘change’ strikes fear into a lot of people and organizations.

There is a time however when ridged environments become malleable, when the fear of change is overrun by the need for change. That is during a crisis. It is the effect coaches and CEOs capitalize on when they take over a failing team or desperate company and turn it around; succeeding where others failed.

It is during a crisis that we are open to change. It is so powerful that successful CEO often prolong the appearance of crisis to receive the maximum benefit. in “The Power of Habit” author Charles Duhigg talks about Paul O’Neil’s time at Alcoa (later he became Secretary of Treasury) and how he took advantage of their crisis to modernize the dinosaur of a company Alcoa had become. Alcoa was a segmented and territorial multi-national company with layers of politics that made it impossible to succeed. O’Neil quadrupled earnings during his tenure by using crisis to tear down old ways of thinking and old processes.

Crisis are difficult, but they happen. You can use the opportunity of crisis to change your farm for the better; to become more profitable and resilient while people are open to change. Go for it.