8 farming concepts helpful to innovation.

8 farming concepts helpful to innovation.

Darrell Velegol, PhD

2024jun05

Overall, farming civilizations have historically been more "successful" in terms of building large-scale societies and advancing human technology and culture. Here are 8 concepts in farming, that I think are also important in innovation:

1. Prepare the soil. Interact with the field with vigor, for instance by tilling and turning over packed-down areas.

2. Plant seeds. Keep planting! As the old story goes, the birds will get some of the seeds, while others will be choked out or die with weak roots. Keep planting! Some will fall on good soil! Don’t give up!

3. Irrigation and fertilization. Provide vital resources to your plants (projects). Time, energy, money, skill.

4. Weed and pest management. Remove distractions and competitors for attention and resources.

5. Crop rotation. Rotate great ideas from among several fields, to break cycles of weeds, pests, and disease.

6. Prune. Reduce the number of plants that you engage at once. Thin out the less vigorous projects.

7. Harvesting. Gather value at the right time, for max value and min damage to your field.

8. Post-harvest. Maintain the harvest in a manner that reduces loss later (e.g., good customer service).

There are so many lessons from farming that apply to innovation that I’ll revisit this concept in future blogs.