The Difference Between a Pie and a Farm
“Those who sign on and depart the system of anxious scarcity become the history makers in the neighborhood.” —Walter Brueggemann
What do we do when we don’t have enough money to reach our goals? Maybe we are thinking about things in the wrong way. I go through the six-mile markers of building a small business with a client, we work on building S.M.A.R.T. goals. Every organization needs to establish goals to get from here (where we are) to there (where we want to be). Our goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented, Realistic, and done in a Timely manner.
We all have big dreams about what our organizations can be. So, we set our goals and work towards achieving them.
About the time I start talking with clients about “goal setting,” is about the time when they start feeling anxious. Why? Because they measure their goals again what resources they have; or what they don’t. Things start to feel daunting and can lead to paralysis.
However, changing our perspective just a little bit when we consider our resources, or lack thereof, can go a long, long way in helping us realize and achieve our goals.
I am not talking about being more positive. I’m also not talking about being more optimistic. I am one for realistic thinking. People with their head in the clouds can’t see their goals realistically. I’m talking about changing our perspective in a realistic manner.
1. The Myth: The Economy is Like a Pie
Some think the economy is like a pie. We only have so much money, so when it’s spent it’s like part of the pie is gone. A need comes up and a little bit more is spent. Soon three quarters of the pie is missing. An emergency happens and more needs to be spent. Then half is gone. Before you know it you’re down to a slice. The goals aren’t met yet and, because of needs, emergencies, and unexpected expenses, you’re down to crumbs. That feels scary. The pie is gone.
2. The Truth: The Economy Can Be Like A Farm
It’s true, we only have so much money. We get pigeonholed because our resources are limited, the pie is gone, and now we can’t reach our goals. But what if the economy is not like a pie but is like a farm?
If the economy is like a pie, it all gets eaten up and there is no more left. But if the economy is like a farm, then that means that when we plant our resources (invest, rather than spend) we get even more in return! My friend, Michael Smith says, “The success of any endeavor is dependent on how well scarce and precious resources are invested for their highest and best use in pursuit of a goal.” It is important that we consider what our resources are because we have more than we realize and INVEST them to see it multiplied.
3. Fitting a Square Peg in a Round Hole
In the movie Apollo 13, the astronauts of the Apollo space capsule run into a major problem: the cabin is filling with carbon dioxide, and they only have a little bit of time to filter the air. They weren’t going to reach their goal of getting home safely because they were running out of their most precious resource: oxygen. The scientists on the ground in Houston realize that they need to create a filter to purify the air, and they need to fit a square filter to a round one.
There’s nothing like the challenge of trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.
So, they had to consider not just the missing obvious resource (oxygen), but all the other resources they had (duct tape, a flight manual, space suits, scissors, etc.) and they used all of these non-obvious resources to build a filter and get those astronauts home.
They applied ALL their resources to make something they needed to reach their goal.
4. “Farming” (Investing) Your Resources
I am not a very good farmer, but I am really interested in it. In my area of the city, almost one in four people are food insecure. Our goal was to do something about this, so several of us with the same passion started a non-profit called the Midtown Community Development Foundation. Our thought was to start an urban farm. The only problem was, we didn’t have any money. And we didn’t have any land. That was a major problem.
We need to think like a farmer. A farmer thinks about all the resources he has at his disposal. That’s what small business entrepreneurs, leaders of social enterprises, and nonprofit startups need to do. They need to think about ALL their resources.
We had no money so we couldn’t buy land, but we realized we had another, maybe more valuable resource: a relationship.
For some time, we had been working with a local hospital on several other projects. Over time we built a very good relationship them and realized the same people we wanted to serve were the same that they were serving. While they were providing medicine, we could provide food. Not only that, but we realized they had land that was not being used and it was right in the middle of the city!
It is about ¾ of an acre, had irrigation, water hook ups, and even electricity. So we went to them and asked, “Can we lease your land? We don’t have any money, but we’ll focus on getting your patients who are food insecure healthy vegetables.” They loved the idea! Then they put up the first $10,000 to get the project going! Others heard about the work, the partnership, and gave. Before we knew it, nearly $90,000 was raised within the first year. Just recently, we harvested our first crops and are preparing the ground for our next round.
At first, we thought we were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, but we figured out we already had every resource we needed to pull it off. By investing (planting) in the relationship (one of our most precious resources) we did the work, literally and figuratively, of a good farmer. We invested (planted) our time and effort in a relationship.
And it has multiplied a thousand times.
