It is clear that, if a good plan is not in place, failure will be closer, so today I take these two minutes of your attention to focus on implementation, a fundamental point where brands and companies have our most rigid sinodal and once again leaning on AgroMarketing as a narrative vehicle, where so many of these stories are woven with greater clarity.
enemy at home
A prominent farmer from the Mexican southeast decided to appoint a young member of his family as responsible for the detection, search and implementation of new technologies for his ranch, a very interesting idea that “broke the mold” of the traditional grain producer as it opened up the possibility of having an independent entity in charge of making strategic decisions within a business clearly loaded with short-term operations.
A small area was immediately configured with people whose profile created good expectations of success in the vision of the owner of that farm, however, the idea was stamped head-on with the implementation, finding its main obstacle in micro management because, although the The origin of this initiative was gestated in the mind of the boss of the ranch, it was he himself who reduced the agility of the action as a consequence of his need for control.
the two lies
After phrases as dangerous and infamous as “it’s not you, it’s me” and “I’ll pay you tomorrow”, there is this other one that is a corporate jewel: “priorities have changed”.
There are many occasions on which the agricultural companies that I have had the opportunity to meet suddenly cancel research projects, service promises or technical tests of new products that were planned for the medium and long term, and this is not a matter of seriousness or professionalism nothing more, but a lack of prevention in the face of changes that we cannot control, so I highly recommend that you make sure that a strategic priority is that: priority and strategic, and I will clarify this play on words.
Propose the application of acid tests to strategic projects trying to have a guarantee of implementation in such a way that you present to the leadership team assumed scenarios that lead them to anticipate.
For example, during the process of defining your strategy, question whether the project and its respective implementation are guaranteed in the face of a drop in sales, or even challenge your approvers to assume that there is a global financial instruction to apply an unexpected control of expenses, your project is one of those that would not have such decisive effects. If this proposal survives, then congratulations, it’s a priority.
On the other hand, and to validate if it is strategic, your initiative should have a desirable minimum of three years in the planning landscape of your company, otherwise, it risks becoming the flavor of the day and it may not be realized. re-implement what has been so carefully planned. Think about the resources, positions created, investment time and other elements that must be considered throughout this period, which is not so much if what is sought is the consolidation of a new way of working.
ignore customer
Should the customer be included in the implementation process or not? Does it increase the chances of success or does it conflict with confidentiality? Well, it’s not black or white, but the strategy needs to see the user at the right stage and from my experience, the earlier you engage them, the better.
Concept tests on a traditional product, focus groups and other insight gathering processes are part of the minimum necessary to operate high-impact plans, but remember that, in the agricultural sector, the concept of co-creation takes on a dimension very interesting since it involves customers in the design of products and solutions in the field.
Do not be afraid to partially share your strategy because it is they, the clients, who have a high level of detail and the necessary experience to shape innovative proposals with a necessary preliminary validation and with it, the friction that you will observe in the process of implementation will need to be significantly reduced.
SOWING REFLECTION
The inexperienced will tell you what they intend to do, but the ones who achieve success are the ones who tell you the story about what they did, why they did what they did and how they did it… there is no better way to symbolize the impact it has the implementation behind the projects that came to fruition.