Innovative Leaders and Potato Farmers – Part 3
In my last few blog posts, we’ve been discussing the innovative practices of potato farmers which would be good for leaders to adopt. The first two characteristic are to be humble and curious, because humility leads to a higher level of interdependence of other people, and curiosity helps to cultivate our adaptive capacity, both important to being an authentic and selfless leader. Today we move to the next trait leaders should adopt from the potato farmer.
#3 – Innovative Leaders are Agile
The third trait is for innovators to do as the farmers have done by being agile. Just as curiosity connects with humility, so too, agility connects with curiosity. Imagine the day a farmer’s child was sticking rocks or sticks into a freshly picked potato and the light bulb of innovation came on, showing that potatoes could also be used as a toy, creating the first Mr. Potato Head. While today’s toys are made of colored plastic, the first Mr. Potato Heads did not include a potato, but only the pieces that were to be stuck in an actual potato. The item intended to be food became a toy by being agile, which potatoes continue to be, as evidenced by web sites such as www.rd.com/home/extraordinary-uses-for-potatoes/ that list agile uses from decorative stamp making, stain and tarnish removal, salt extraction, medical applications, and even for keeping ski goggles clear.
Innovators, like farmers, must remember the advice given by innovation scholars Davila, Epstein, and Shelton when they stated, “Core capabilities can become core liabilities if they do not adapt and change.” Stories are told of how Amish families effectively use potatoes for the treatment of bruises, cuts, infections, and insect bites, but it is because they have thought beyond the obvious uses for their crop and been agile in their thinking. Had they limited their use of potatoes to their first idea, they would have missed out. Agile farmers and innovators set a great example for fellow innovators who should be humble, curious and agile, asking “What else can be done?” By doing so, they expand their range of thought, imagining things that have not yet been discovered and tapping into the lesson the Apostle Paul taught the church at Colossians to do, “set your minds on things that are above and not of the earth.”
Innovative leaders are agile.
Lead well.