The naysayers versus the innovators

“We tried that back in 1984. It was a bad idea then and it’s not going to work now.”

Sound familiar?

Since the first cow was domesticated, ag innovators have been coming up with new ways to do things. And since that cow was first milked, naysayers have been killing the innovators’ dreams, shooting down new ideas and coming up with reasons not to change.

Maybe you’re a young innovator trying to convince the older generation to make a change. Or you’re an older dreamer pushing your niece and nephew to try something new. Perhaps the naysayer blocking your ideas isn’t even a relative.

If this is you, advice from three Canadian farm consultants might help put your ideas into practice.

Find the root of the problem

This won’t apply to the projects you’re pitching to the farm management team, but some ideas are legitimately bad. When this is the case, innovators are lucky to have naysayers to hold the farm back from financial ruin.

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But sometimes naysayers are too quick to shoot down ideas that are objectively good. Ideas that pencil out in a strong business plan. Some people seem to do this repeatedly. Intentionally.

Len Davies, a family business continuity planner who works with farmers in Ontario and the Maritimes, has seen a lot of innovators butt heads with dream killers. Davies estimates that when he’s dealing with naysayers, about 60 or 70 per cent of the time, they have an objective behind their negative response. Sometimes the objective has nothing to do with the idea actually under discussion.

For example, one of Davies’ clients farmed with his brother. Time after time, Davies’ client’s wife took issue with new ideas and plans for the farm. After a lot of discussion and communication, Davies realized that the client’s wife wasn’t really objecting to the new ideas. Instead, she was avoiding addressing a much bigger issue: she didn’t believe the two brothers could work together as partners in the long run. She wasn’t really concerned about the new ideas; she was worried about the farm’s business structure.

“Rather than saying, ‘It’s not going to work because you guys can’t work together,’ she expressed her concerns by pushing back on smaller decisions.”

Sometimes, Davies says, “You have to drill down to find the naysayer’s real motives.”

Another of Davies’ clients constantly shot down new ideas. When Davies persuaded him to examine his own motives, the client realized that his heart wasn’t in the farm operation at all. The small changes he’d been objecting to were irrelevant to his bigger issue.

Naysayers’ objections aren’t usually as dramatic as a conviction that the farm is doomed, or a hidden desire to move to Arizona. Maybe your new idea doesn’t fit into their vision of the future of the farm. Maybe your plan to use extra cash to grow the cattle herd clashes with the greenhouses they’ve been envisioning.

Davies has also seen cases where a naysayer has objected to a plan by saying, “It didn’t work when the neighbour did it.” That kind of objection is easier to debate. “Maybe the farmer down the road didn’t do it right,” Davies says. You can suggest safeguards and implementation plans that will make your project successful, despite the neighbour’s experience.

Deeper motives and misunderstandings are often at the heart of naysayers’ objections, but not always.

“Some people are just negative,” Davies says.

Maybe Dad has a point?

Ryan Krause is a management consultant with Calgary-based Serecon Inc. He’s seen naysayers come to the table with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude.

The best way to fight this attitude, Krause says, is to make sure you’ve done your homework. Bring copies of your business plan to present to the farm management team.

“You can have the greatest idea in the world, but you’ve got to run the numbers for your operation. You’ve got to get into the details.” Literally show the naysayer what’s in it for them.

If you’ve built and explained a strong business plan but you’re still getting negative feedback, Krause suggests asking questions to get more information. A question like, “Why are you opposing what I’m suggesting?” could be the first step in understanding the problem.

Krause is relatively young, so you might picture him taking the side of an innovator, wanting to run with a new project. But he doesn’t automatically dismiss naysayers’ concerns. He knows that the voice of experience can be right.

He learned this lesson on his own family farm, when his father reacted negatively to the idea of testing precision fertilizer application on their grain farm in southwest Saskatchewan. When his father reminded Krause that in their dry climate, rain was their biggest yield-limiting factor, not fertilizer, Krause came around to his father’s point of view.

“Maybe Dad does know what he’s talking about.”

Just as naysayers should consider business plans and try to think objectively about new ideas, innovators also need to be objective and open to other perspectives. Sometimes, naysayers provide good information that should be included in the business plan. Or maybe they have facts that legitimately shoot down a bad idea.

Find another way

Reg Shandro, mediator and founder of Farmacist Advisory and Mediation Services Inc. says there are usually two reasons why founders (patriarchs or matriarchs) are afraid of implementing new ideas. One reason is the same one Davies brought up: they see bigger problems at the heart of the business.

Another issue Shandro sees is farm founders worrying about being upstaged. “What if my successor is better than me?” These might be the worst kind of naysayers.

No matter what’s motivating your naysayer, if your plans are being shot down by the same person time after time, Shandro says, ultimately, the onus is on you to change your technique to make progress.

“The first time you’re the victim. The second time you’re a volunteer,” Shandro says.

If you know how your naysayer is going to respond before you get to the table, it’s your responsibility to find a new approach. “Your job is to lobby that naysayer, saying ‘here’s what I think and why.’” Give them the facts.

If the facts aren’t enough, Shandro says, “Find the common interests where needs and values overlap.” If you can see the business from your naysayer’s point of view, you can tailor your plan to address their concerns.

“You need to communicate and seek to be understood and listen to understand the naysayer’s needs. What are they afraid of?”

If you can predict the naysayer’s objections before the meeting, you have a chance to address likely problems before they can dig in their heels. Especially if the problem you need to address is based on facts that have changed or reasons that don’t apply anymore.

“Naysayers have good memories,” Shandro says. “Optimists have great imaginations.”

Top tips for working with dream killers:

1. Len Davies, a family business continuity planner who works with farmers in Ontario and the Maritimes, suggests bringing positivity into regular farm team meetings. Talk about good things that have recently happened on the farm. “Open and close with the positive,” Davies says.

2. Sometimes there’s a definite need for change, but a naysayer constantly objects to proposed ideas. In this case, try putting them on the spot. “Ask them, ‘What would you suggest?’” Davies says.

3. For innovators bringing forward business plans filled with financial ratios, Davies reminds them not to forget to include operational plans. Who’s going to do that additional work? Where exactly will the new equipment be stored? Knowing more details could make the naysayer more comfortable with change.

4. Ryan Krause, a management consultant with Serecon Inc. in Calgary, says younger farmers may have to remind older farmers that the economic landscape has changed. For example, he says, interest rates aren’t 18 per cent anymore. Sometimes you need to take a risk to get ahead.

5. For younger innovators hoping to implement new technology, Krause reminds them to be patient. Farmers who didn’t grow up with texting and computer screens might be slower to adapt to the latest hardware on the market.

6. One shortcut to consensus between innovators and naysayers is agreeing on the problem. Krause says that if everyone on the farm team agrees on the problem that needs to be addressed, it will be much simpler to implement solutions.

7. To improve communications with naysayers, says Reg Shandro, mediator and founder of Farmacist Advisory and Mediation Services, take stock of who you’re dealing with and try to see the business based on their point of view. “You are who you are based on your life’s travels and what you choose to see,” Shandro says.

Knowing what your naysayer has been through should give you some insight into their perspective on your ideas.

8. Shandro reminds innovators optimism doesn’t always paint a full picture. “Naysayers are valuable if they have the evidence to back it up.”

9. When times are good, and there’s cash in the bank, new ideas might not get as much scrutiny as they otherwise would. “Optimism’s killed more farms than pessimism,” Shandro says. This is where naysayers are worth their weight in canola. “More bad decisions during the good times killed farms than good decisions in the bad times.”