Rural Futures with Dr. Connie Episode 3 Featuring Dr. Tom Field

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06/12/2018 Added

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Rural Futures with Dr. Connie and guest Dr. Tom Field

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[00:00:00.510]Hi, it's Katelyn, producer of the Rural Futures Podcast.
[00:00:04.490]Subscribe where you listen so you don't miss an episode,
[00:00:07.080]and follow us on Facebook, Instagram,
[00:00:09.120]and Twitter @RuralFutures.
[00:00:11.040]Thanks for listening.
[00:00:13.103]A university that figures out
[00:00:14.790]how to create certainly a network of learning,
[00:00:16.935]but more importantly, a network that allows curious people
[00:00:20.100]to go to work on things that they care about.
[00:00:21.780]To work on problems they care about
[00:00:23.220]and markets they care about, customers they care about.
[00:00:25.790]Solutions will take care of themselves.
[00:00:27.500]It's find the right problem to work on
[00:00:29.850]and find the right customer to serve.
[00:00:32.400]I think we solve a lot of societal problems
[00:00:34.920]if we can unleash entrepreneurial spirit.
[00:00:39.610]Rural Futures.
[00:00:41.050]The Podcast where we connect thought leaders and doers
[00:00:44.460]at the intersection of technology
[00:00:46.480]and what it means to be human.
[00:00:48.270]Every episode, we talk with entrepreneurs,
[00:00:50.820]researchers, and achievers, to create impact
[00:00:53.880]for generations to come.
[00:00:56.050]And now, here's Dr. Connie.
[00:00:58.520]Hi, I'm Dr. Connie, host of the Rural Futures Podcast.
[00:01:01.970]Joining me today is Dr. Tom Field.
[00:01:04.510]He's the executive director of
[00:01:05.890]the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program,
[00:01:08.820]but he's also an amazing colleague and close friend,
[00:01:11.800]and somebody I rely a lot on for advice.
[00:01:14.120]I think as we go through the interview today,
[00:01:15.830]you're gonna know why.
[00:01:17.710]Tom, I want to give people a little background about you,
[00:01:20.610]but then I also want you to introduce yourself.
[00:01:23.420]Some of the things I admire about Tom and his bio
[00:01:25.810]is that he really puts students first.
[00:01:28.970]But not just in a traditional way in terms of lecturing.
[00:01:32.090]In fact, you're anti-lecturing. (laughs)
[00:01:34.740]You are experience.
[00:01:36.460]Go out there and build something, and do it together.
[00:01:39.440]I think building these cohorts and these teams
[00:01:42.770]of very entrepreneurial students
[00:01:43.970]is something that you've really done with your team
[00:01:46.790]here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:01:48.880]but also now, you can see the effects of that
[00:01:51.560]in businesses and communities beyond campus,
[00:01:54.170]which is very exciting.
[00:01:56.150]Tom also does a lot of consulting with companies
[00:01:58.710]in terms of helping them grow their businesses,
[00:02:01.610]but I loved too, how you focus on mindset with that.
[00:02:04.890]So much of it is about mindset and passion,
[00:02:08.100]and what you really bring to the table
[00:02:09.660]in terms of your talents.
[00:02:11.470]Fill in some gaps for us.
[00:02:12.560]Tell us a little bit more about Tom Field.
[00:02:15.200]Well, I'm a son of a ranching family in western Colorado.
[00:02:20.700]As a little kid, I actually in the summers,
[00:02:22.810]we would go up into the high country.
[00:02:25.910]It was called Cal Camp, and I lived with my parents
[00:02:29.100]in a one-room cabin with no running water,
[00:02:31.980]no electricity, a wood-burning stove.
[00:02:37.060]From that sort of humble beginning,
[00:02:39.900]and which was actually a great experience as a kid,
[00:02:44.470]had the opportunity through so many people
[00:02:47.290]investing in a small community in western Colorado
[00:02:52.050]to see the world, and to experience a little bigger picture,
[00:02:56.177]and a different perspective.
[00:02:58.060]Eventually went off to university.
[00:03:01.150]Got a degree in animal sciences,
[00:03:03.050]but if I would go back and finish my praticums,
[00:03:05.940]my second degree would be in human development
[00:03:08.280]and family studies, with an emphasis in early childhood.
[00:03:12.060]Which is in my second life, maybe that's what I'll go do.
[00:03:15.860]Now, why is that?
[00:03:16.693]Why would you pursue those fields?
[00:03:18.340]Well, it's sort of an interesting story.
[00:03:20.650]I took the first class at human development
[00:03:23.040]because I heard that there would be 80 women, and me.
[00:03:26.021](laughing)
[00:03:27.190]And so that's really a shallow reason,
[00:03:29.880]but when you're 19, you make a lot of shallow decisions.
[00:03:33.430]I walk into this class and I encountered this fireball
[00:03:36.610]of a faculty member named Jill Kreitzer,
[00:03:38.819]and I did not walk into that class
[00:03:41.130]expecting to be transformed, but she changed my life.
[00:03:44.200]And then the entire faculty in that department,
[00:03:46.830]Kevin Ulchenbruns, and Janet Fritz, and Rex Colt.
[00:03:51.190]There was just a whole group of people
[00:03:53.110]that really invested in me
[00:03:56.320]and in helping me figure out that the human condition
[00:03:59.220]is not this static place.
[00:04:01.790]That there's this developmental sequencing that goes on.
[00:04:07.015]It's all this connecting the dots, right?
[00:04:08.990]I mean, Steve Jobs was right.
[00:04:10.130]Eventually, the dots connect.
[00:04:12.986]Being a cowboy and hanging out
[00:04:15.060]in this sort of child development, human development space,
[00:04:18.560]being really active in 4-H,
[00:04:20.780]having a deep interest in history,
[00:04:22.540]being wildly curious, having faculty
[00:04:24.970]who let me explore what I was interested in,
[00:04:29.370]and it all eventually connected to set me up.
[00:04:33.300]I didn't know it was happening at the time,
[00:04:34.840]but it set me up to help grow the Engler program,
[00:04:38.240]and to create a program that's focused on transforming
[00:04:40.800]the lives of students by putting them in command
[00:04:43.750]of their own ships from the minute they come to campus,
[00:04:46.610]and hopefully setting them up for the rest of their lives
[00:04:48.760]to actually be the master of their own destiny.
[00:04:50.213]I think it takes a unique leader to be able to do that,
[00:04:53.440]and it sounds like you've had a lot of experiences
[00:04:55.560]that have helped shape you as a leader.
[00:04:57.240]And I know you're also a dedicated family man,
[00:05:00.128]and really balancing that career,
[00:05:02.480]but also really, I would say,
[00:05:05.600]advancing society in many ways in the next generation.
[00:05:09.030]What does that need to look like going into the future?
[00:05:12.020]Tell us a little bit about you as a leader
[00:05:13.527]and your leadership philosophy.
[00:05:15.630]Well, I think first and foremost, for me as a leader
[00:05:17.873]is that I rarely see myself as a leader.
[00:05:21.220]I see my team as a leadership group.
[00:05:26.800]Those who know me know that my love of hierarchy
[00:05:30.110]would be close to zero, if not negative.
[00:05:32.411](laughing)
[00:05:33.291]I just think flat structure makes more sense.
[00:05:36.000]I mean, hierarchical approaches in ranching didn't work
[00:05:39.340]because you had to be adaptive.
[00:05:40.360]I really learned a lot in the very chaotic ecosystem
[00:05:45.550]where things were changing all the time,
[00:05:47.490]and you had to work with a team.
[00:05:48.810]You had to work effectively and well.
[00:05:52.730]I'm a big fan of the team, and I think
[00:05:55.670]from a leadership perspective, the leader in the future
[00:05:59.680]will by in large, be responsible for attracting talent,
[00:06:04.690]and then for empowering that talent,
[00:06:07.000]getting out of the way of the talent.
[00:06:09.920]Keeping the culture alive, keeping the team focused
[00:06:12.810]on the right ball that you're chasing,
[00:06:15.870]but to do it in a way that invites people to the table.
[00:06:20.500]I just can't imagine an effective organization
[00:06:23.350]that operates without people around the table,
[00:06:27.470]and making decisions together,
[00:06:30.040]and then moving those things forward
[00:06:31.490]and assigning accountability.
[00:06:34.100]I think that's the key to what we've been able to do.
[00:06:36.830]We've built the Engler program in six years
[00:06:39.800]from really scratch, up, because we've had a great team
[00:06:44.180]and people who were willing to engage,
[00:06:47.300]and then to be accountable, and to take big pieces of it
[00:06:50.060]and run with it.
[00:06:52.090]I'm also a big believer, if you're a little further
[00:06:55.710]in your career it's really critical
[00:06:57.480]to listen to younger talent.
[00:06:59.817]It's hard to do because the older you get,
[00:07:03.160]the more you try to protect things, right?
[00:07:05.370]You start thinking, well I've gotta protect this.
[00:07:09.250]I've been working with companies and telling them,
[00:07:11.070]look, you gotta get the youngest voices in your team
[00:07:14.330]in the room and at the table.
[00:07:16.820]Certainly experience matters,
[00:07:18.210]but you really have to be listening.
[00:07:21.568]We actually took it to heart in our own program.
[00:07:24.170]We just went through a really intense
[00:07:26.100]strategic planning process,
[00:07:27.820]and the person who led our team
[00:07:29.850]through the strategic planning process
[00:07:31.240]was the youngest member of our staff, 23 years old.
[00:07:34.094]And I'm very proud of that.
[00:07:34.927]Well, and I think that's a great thing to bring forward
[00:07:37.440]is that you really are about lifting people up.
[00:07:40.290]You're about empowering them, getting them to
[00:07:42.450]where they're able to lead not just the team, but themselves
[00:07:48.060]and get those experiences they're needing and craving.
[00:07:51.540]I've seen a lot of that in the Engler program,
[00:07:54.160]and you've really helped the Rural Futures Institute
[00:07:56.750]think about that co-creation model a lot, as well.
[00:07:59.830]We're not living in a vacuum.
[00:08:01.350]We're not just in our offices.
[00:08:02.850]We're all out trying to create the future together.
[00:08:06.750]Part of what we want to do with this Podcast
[00:08:08.580]is explore the future of leadership,
[00:08:10.120]but also, how our leaders and people who are leading
[00:08:13.610]these types of incredible, cutting-edge programs,
[00:08:16.670]see the future changing.
[00:08:18.410]What do you see in terms,
[00:08:19.460]and it's kind of a two-part question, I think for you,
[00:08:22.360]changes in entrepreneurship?
[00:08:24.300]Obviously, that's where your program is focused,
[00:08:26.210]but also changes in higher education.
[00:08:28.220]How do you see the future sort of shaping in those areas?
[00:08:32.000]Well, entrepreneurship I think,
[00:08:33.600]is this sort of two-edged kind of game.
[00:08:38.880]When we first started in this program,
[00:08:40.540]we thought our goal was really to build companies.
[00:08:46.240]We probably took too much ownership in that,
[00:08:48.180]because in fact, as mentors, and advisors,
[00:08:51.870]and facilitators and coaches,
[00:08:54.020]we can't really build the company.
[00:08:55.660]The companies have to be built by individuals and teams
[00:08:58.300]who are really committed to the company.
[00:09:00.920]Over time, we figured out that really the key was,
[00:09:03.380]is our mission as a program was to empower people
[00:09:08.870]to courageously pursue their purpose
[00:09:12.850]through the form in art of entrepreneurship.
[00:09:16.960]And we thought that was a great way
[00:09:19.040]for people to actually let who they are bubble out,
[00:09:23.280]and to actually have a forum through which
[00:09:25.670]to express that deep sense of purpose.
[00:09:28.710]Absolutely.
[00:09:29.950]I think that's entrepreneurship in the future,
[00:09:31.690]and I also think the other thing that's gonna happen,
[00:09:33.830]it's gonna happen very, very quickly.
[00:09:35.550]The new economy will be called the side gig economy.
[00:09:40.910]As robotics, and artificial intelligence,
[00:09:44.041]and too much process oftentimes,
[00:09:47.400]and the regulatory environment,
[00:09:48.870]all those things sort of press on people,
[00:09:51.670]what they're gonna do is they're just gonna get creative,
[00:09:53.770]and they're gonna do side gigs.
[00:09:55.540]We're gonna see people who are doing amazing things in teams
[00:10:00.730]for short periods of time creating value,
[00:10:03.830]being rewarded for that monetarily, or professionally,
[00:10:07.040]or personally, and then find another side gig.
[00:10:10.520]I think that's the new economy.
[00:10:13.090]I'm not sure anybody's really ready for that yet,
[00:10:15.500]because it's going to be this kind of frontier-like deal.
[00:10:19.690]If the side gig economy is where we're going,
[00:10:22.418]the institution least prepared for that is the university.
[00:10:25.920]Well, and you've been pretty vocal about this.
[00:10:28.400]How do we, as a university,
[00:10:30.290]how do we as higher education evolve?
[00:10:32.670]Because the economy is evolving very quickly,
[00:10:34.860]and people aren't quite ready,
[00:10:36.580]but we should have a place in this new economy
[00:10:39.490]and helping people in our rural communities,
[00:10:41.810]but also urban communities.
[00:10:42.920]Anyone who wants to be involved get there.
[00:10:46.090]Tell us your thoughts on that.
[00:10:47.750]Well historically, America's great unfair advantage
[00:10:51.670]in the global marketplace has been our university system.
[00:10:54.450]I mean, just take a look at how internationalized
[00:10:57.200]the American university is today.
[00:10:58.880]We're attracting people from all over the world
[00:11:01.040]because they value what happens in the university.
[00:11:04.620]The challenge is, is that big organizations,
[00:11:08.780]old organizations with very clear histories,
[00:11:13.594]including fight songs, and certain colors they wear,
[00:11:16.740]and all those things, they get caught up
[00:11:18.840]in protecting what they've done.
[00:11:21.770]I think that's where we're at.
[00:11:22.930]We're at this tipping point.
[00:11:24.120]Every institution in the world is going through
[00:11:27.833]this sort of transformational process.
[00:11:30.240]Whether it's a family farm,
[00:11:31.800]or whether it's a major corporation
[00:11:36.130]that's traded in the international markets.
[00:11:39.220]There's just transformation happening at every level.
[00:11:42.280]It's just sweeping.
[00:11:43.210]The university's challenge is, is how does it
[00:11:46.390]uncumber itself from the processes
[00:11:49.120]and the structure it's built
[00:11:50.880]actually become this nimble, agile,
[00:11:53.320]service-oriented, outward-focused organization?
[00:11:57.380]That's gonna be difficult.
[00:11:59.390]The challenge will be, is how do we create that?
[00:12:03.430]We have to create it by unleashing the creative power
[00:12:08.330]of the faculty, but more importantly,
[00:12:10.720]the creative power of the student.
[00:12:14.694]A faculty-centric institution in the future
[00:12:17.650]just isn't gonna work.
[00:12:19.270]And an administration-centric university,
[00:12:22.920]just start preparing to find a new use for those buildings
[00:12:25.460]'cause that's gonna fail.
[00:12:27.850]And so I think the university has to go through this shift,
[00:12:30.440]and the shift is how do we help people prepare for
[00:12:34.570]a future that looks nothing like where we've been?
[00:12:38.810]Tom, we've talked about the new economy
[00:12:40.560]and how things are happening so quickly.
[00:12:43.250]We don't have 10 years to make these changes
[00:12:45.510]at the university, or even for individuals.
[00:12:48.510]What would you say to individuals
[00:12:50.310]who are sort of nervous about the future?
[00:12:53.240]We hear a lot of people having like,
[00:12:55.360]oh, these robots are gonna replace my job.
[00:12:57.680]What's gonna happen to me?
[00:12:59.200]But what advice would you give to people
[00:13:00.810]around this changing economy?
[00:13:03.350]Well I think two things.
[00:13:04.840]One, I heard an entrepreneur one time say,
[00:13:06.760]look, when there's fear, there's opportunity,
[00:13:09.310]and when there's a lot of fear, there's huge opportunity.
[00:13:12.100]I think we're all a little fearful about the changes.
[00:13:14.180]Things are happening so fast.
[00:13:15.580]Whether it's job replacement,
[00:13:18.130]whether it's economic and political discord,
[00:13:21.410]it's all those things, right?
[00:13:24.610]I think the reality is, is that if people really
[00:13:27.040]want to be the master and commander of the ship
[00:13:30.490]that they want to ride on, they have to take the helm.
[00:13:34.390]Taking the helm means actually lots of small starts.
[00:13:39.880]Try things.
[00:13:40.713]The name of the game is action.
[00:13:42.870]You cannot plan your way into the new economy.
[00:13:45.180]You act your way into the new economy.
[00:13:47.800]I would encourage people figure out problems
[00:13:50.860]that need solving.
[00:13:51.693]They don't have to be big, sexy ones.
[00:13:53.530]They can be simple problems that just need a clear solution.
[00:13:57.810]Find markets that are underserved.
[00:13:59.360]Find resources that are not utilized correctly,
[00:14:02.200]and begin to just work in that space.
[00:14:04.880]The reality is, is the world is going to be different.
[00:14:08.600]Change is always present.
[00:14:11.190]For goodness sakes, I did my PhD work on a CYBER 205.
[00:14:14.840]A computer that today is in a museum,
[00:14:18.990]and that wasn't that long ago.
[00:14:21.690]It's action, and action is the key,
[00:14:25.130]and not being afraid of failure,
[00:14:27.100]and not being afraid to just start.
[00:14:30.590]It all begins with the start.
[00:14:33.650]Well, and I think one we can't totally anticipate.
[00:14:36.240]So getting used to having that change,
[00:14:38.470]to creating your own jobs, your own gigs,
[00:14:41.190]whatever that might look like,
[00:14:43.110]I think is such an incredible challenge in so many ways,
[00:14:46.430]but such a great opportunity too,
[00:14:48.190]for people to use their talents and skills.
[00:14:51.480]But for the university, also to reinvent itself.
[00:14:54.690]I think thinking about ways it can serve people
[00:14:57.940]in the lifelong learning process is so important.
[00:15:00.690]Here at the University of Nebraska for example,
[00:15:03.470]we have 4-H, which we call the first class
[00:15:07.390]for a lot of people.
[00:15:09.170]But at the same time, we have the ability
[00:15:11.740]to help people in high school, in college,
[00:15:14.940]in graduate school, and through their lives.
[00:15:17.610]As that economy and the technologies continue to change,
[00:15:21.490]those communities are also ready,
[00:15:22.950]but that means we have to be listening.
[00:15:24.590]You've talked a lot about that,
[00:15:26.010]in terms of how do we add value to their lives?
[00:15:29.030]How do we continue to rethink ourselves in so many ways,
[00:15:33.410]and how we're helping people learn, and grow,
[00:15:35.770]and really make a good living in a life
[00:15:37.750]wherever they want to be?
[00:15:38.920]That might be rural, it might be urban.
[00:15:41.000]That doesn't matter as much as just really getting people
[00:15:44.150]the life they want, and really helping them thrive.
[00:15:46.960]Yeah, I think a university that figures out
[00:15:49.160]how to create certainly a network of learning,
[00:15:52.155]but more importantly, a network of deep curiosity,
[00:15:55.280]and it connects that curiosity across ages
[00:15:58.940]and across all kinds of socioeconomic,
[00:16:04.030]what we might consider barriers.
[00:16:06.079]Right.
[00:16:06.912]To just slay those barriers by creating this network
[00:16:11.470]that allows curious people to go to work
[00:16:14.780]on things that they care about.
[00:16:16.503]To work on problems they care about,
[00:16:18.260]and markets they care about, customers they care about.
[00:16:21.020]Solutions will take care of themselves.
[00:16:22.670]It's find the right problem to work on,
[00:16:25.180]and find the right customer to serve.
[00:16:28.210]I think we solve a lot of societal problems
[00:16:30.730]if we can unleash entrepreneurial spirit.
[00:16:33.430]We just have to find a way to let people
[00:16:36.230]work on the things they care about early enough
[00:16:39.710]to help them determine their own future.
[00:16:42.880]I've got this belief, and I think it's dangerous
[00:16:47.340]to put there's two kinds of people,
[00:16:49.120]but in the world of entrepreneurship,
[00:16:51.890]and those who come to entrepreneurship and stick
[00:16:54.640]and those who don't, I think there are kind of two mindsets.
[00:16:57.470]One mindset is, is we're waiting on the cavalry.
[00:17:00.813]That's a problem because if we're waiting on somebody
[00:17:03.670]come riding in to rescue us from whatever, right?
[00:17:07.990]From some hardship, we're gonna be waiting a long time,
[00:17:11.580]and we oftentimes won't like the fine print in the contract
[00:17:17.140]when somebody comes in and, hey, I'm gonna rescue you,
[00:17:19.586]but here's what you owe me now.
[00:17:22.670]We become subservient to the system
[00:17:24.820]that has purported to rescue us.
[00:17:28.100]And then I think there are people who are, I'm not waiting.
[00:17:32.230]I'm getting in the boat, and I'm going.
[00:17:35.700]The Lewis and Clarks, right?
[00:17:37.470]They provision, they plan, but they get in the boat
[00:17:39.970]and they go up the Missouri with no knowledge
[00:17:43.150]of what's coming at them.
[00:17:44.900]But they know the only way to find the future
[00:17:49.423]is just to get in that boat.
[00:17:52.170]I think that's something we've gotta really work out
[00:17:54.840]in university, is what do we want to produce?
[00:17:58.100]Do we want to produce more folks waiting on the cavalry,
[00:18:01.470]or do we want to produce people
[00:18:02.930]who are willing to get in the boat?
[00:18:05.400]I think that's a fundamental question for the institution.
[00:18:09.120]Absolutely.
[00:18:10.140]For those people that are wanting to get in the boat,
[00:18:12.230]and they're wanting to create their own future,
[00:18:14.790]what resources would you have to share with them?
[00:18:18.187]Well, the first thing we do is with our freshman students
[00:18:21.750]is we give them permission to work on something interesting.
[00:18:25.500]From day one, we don't give exams.
[00:18:29.750]Because I don't even know what an exam
[00:18:31.160]in entrepreneurship would look like, right?
[00:18:32.759]That's a good question.
[00:18:33.592]Come back with the biggest, I don't know.
[00:18:36.155]I mean, I don't even know what it would look like.
[00:18:37.510]We started that apparently at,
[00:18:39.870]I don't even know how to do this.
[00:18:40.720]Let's do something more interesting.
[00:18:41.770]Let's do projects, and let's get high immersion
[00:18:45.650]for students with minimal financial risk,
[00:18:47.680]'cause we don't want people to make $100,000 mistakes early
[00:18:51.840]because that's devastating.
[00:18:53.300]Right.
[00:18:54.160]It's hard to dig out from.
[00:18:56.360]But you can make a $50 mistake and learn an awful lot.
[00:19:00.620]We run a little program where we have students
[00:19:03.570]that are put together in teams, and they do a $50 startup.
[00:19:07.400]We give them $50, they start a company,
[00:19:09.600]they have 60 days to generate revenue,
[00:19:11.760]and we tell them, look, it's gotta be legal
[00:19:16.460]and it needs to make your mother proud.
[00:19:17.886]If it meets those constraints, then you're good, right?
[00:19:20.870]We're not gonna constrain you any more than that.
[00:19:22.760]Let's see what you do.
[00:19:24.850]What's interesting is they will as a group,
[00:19:26.960]make all of the mistakes that most
[00:19:29.290]early-stage companies will make
[00:19:30.960]that are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[00:19:33.720]But we're only out with seven teams.
[00:19:36.380]It's 350 bucks, and boy, have we learned a lot.
[00:19:39.950]Well, that's powerful.
[00:19:40.900]We do crazy things like we have a little bucket
[00:19:45.569]when students will come into class
[00:19:47.530]and there'll be a bucket of pencils
[00:19:50.060]and a bucket of red paper clips
[00:19:52.700]and we'll say okay, pick one and sit down.
[00:19:56.110]They pick one or the other,
[00:19:57.920]and they're kind of looking at it.
[00:19:58.753]They're like, what is this guy up to now?
[00:20:02.000]We say to them, okay, here's the deal.
[00:20:04.570]You have two weeks to trade that item
[00:20:08.720]for as much value as you can create.
[00:20:10.900]Trade it for something, trade again.
[00:20:12.420]We want you to make as many trades as you can.
[00:20:15.260]What's interesting is in two weeks' time,
[00:20:17.130]just in the sort of negotiation,
[00:20:19.050]and trading, and bartering world,
[00:20:21.440]we had students who traded red paper clips
[00:20:24.700]that eventually ended up with these really high-end
[00:20:27.110]gas grill barbecue deals, and Vera Bradley handbags,
[00:20:33.090]and it was amazing, right?
[00:20:36.250]What's the value of that?
[00:20:37.340]The value is, is they're having to make a cold call.
[00:20:40.230]They hate it, and they all talk about,
[00:20:42.130]oh, those first three, like will you trade me?
[00:20:44.350]It was so hard, and it was painful, but I did it, right?
[00:20:49.060]And then the negotiation, and understanding value,
[00:20:52.370]and knowing when they got to a value
[00:20:54.840]that they were willing to stick with.
[00:20:56.560]This one kid, he said, I got this super cool baseball cap.
[00:21:00.950]I really didn't want to trade for anything else. (laughs)
[00:21:03.530]This is the value I wanted.
[00:21:04.870]I really wanted that cap.
[00:21:06.720]Well, that's pretty cool.
[00:21:09.360]That's a very different experience
[00:21:10.580]than memorizing a bunch of stuff.
[00:21:11.887]Absolutely, and getting what you want.
[00:21:13.610]Asking for it, and being okay to go for it.
[00:21:16.260]Right.
[00:21:17.093]Such an important part of entrepreneurship.
[00:21:18.017]But I do see you brought a book.
[00:21:19.410]Do you have any resources you want to share
[00:21:21.090]with our listeners?
[00:21:22.130]Yeah, so I mean, if you go to our website,
[00:21:25.610]engler.unl.edu, click on the resources page,
[00:21:28.820]lots of the books that we think are valuable,
[00:21:30.830]but one that I just really love is Essentialism.
[00:21:34.610]The subtitle is The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.
[00:21:38.220]Here's the challenge we have.
[00:21:40.418]We're in a yes culture, right?
[00:21:44.140]And it doesn't matter if you're an educator,
[00:21:46.690]if you're a church, if you're a business
[00:21:51.320]that sells a manufactured good,
[00:21:53.160]if you're a business that does consulting.
[00:21:55.490]Human beings, we are in a yes culture, right?
[00:22:00.800]Let's pile more on our plate, never take anything off.
[00:22:03.750]The do more with less, but don't stop doing anything.
[00:22:07.120]Well, that's not sustainable.
[00:22:08.490]Eventually, that just tears you up.
[00:22:10.890]Greg McKeown has this notion that we can
[00:22:14.030]actually narrow down and focus on
[00:22:17.760]those things that actually have impact.
[00:22:20.370]The big rocks.
[00:22:22.050]Focus on the things that matter the most.
[00:22:24.850]And certainly in entrepreneurship,
[00:22:26.400]there are key things to spend your time and energy on
[00:22:29.430]at various stages of the process,
[00:22:31.760]and things that you shouldn't be focused on at all
[00:22:34.650]at certain stages of the process, right?
[00:22:38.260]Oftentimes, entrepreneurs, they want to build something
[00:22:40.370]really quickly, right?
[00:22:41.570]But they haven't asked their customer.
[00:22:43.820]But I'm glad that's what you're teaching your students.
[00:22:45.940]Where do you really focus first?
[00:22:47.640]How do you start building?
[00:22:48.910]And that's what essentialism does for you, right?
[00:22:51.960]It gets you to focus in the right places.
[00:22:54.840]We love everything that Seth Godin writes.
[00:22:57.670]The Dip, in particular.
[00:22:59.710]Knowing when to quit.
[00:23:02.430]This is very antithetical to midwestern values.
[00:23:05.250]Yeah, right. Right.
[00:23:06.083]But there are things that we literally should quit.
[00:23:08.070]We need to stop doing them because they don't add any value,
[00:23:10.630]or we're never gonna be very good at them, right?
[00:23:13.370]I quit playing competitive basketball a long time ago
[00:23:16.880]because I was never going to be
[00:23:19.200]a very good basketball player, right?
[00:23:21.840]I like basketball, but it wasn't gonna be my future, right?
[00:23:25.100]So spending tons of time on that would've been silly.
[00:23:29.800]Dan and Chip Heath.
[00:23:31.340]They've got a number of great books.
[00:23:34.860]Things that stick.
[00:23:36.220]But they have a new one called Moments,
[00:23:38.730]and it's all about this sort of reality that
[00:23:42.200]what we provide for our customers,
[00:23:44.300]whether we're educators, whether we're business people,
[00:23:47.160]whether we're in the nonprofit sector,
[00:23:49.000]quite frankly, if we're parents,
[00:23:51.330]is the power of what we create for our customer is moments.
[00:23:56.810]Memorable experiences that shape the way
[00:23:59.860]the person sees the world.
[00:24:03.120]I would be willing to bet that most people
[00:24:05.040]when they've been given things that gave them moments,
[00:24:07.860]they remember them, but they probably cannot remember
[00:24:12.290]the stuff that they got
[00:24:14.630]in their Christmas stocking three years ago.
[00:24:17.140]Well, and I think as leaders too,
[00:24:19.090]how we create moments even in our culture,
[00:24:21.690]how do we build that type of culture
[00:24:23.280]so our employees want to be engaged and stay,
[00:24:26.150]and they also want to do great work,
[00:24:28.070]and we're empowering them to do that?
[00:24:30.020]Appreciate your time and all your insights today, Tom.
[00:24:32.320]We could talk forever. (laughs)
[00:24:34.407]I know that we do. We do.
[00:24:36.600]But could you give us your website again,
[00:24:38.490]and let us know where people can find you?
[00:24:40.527]You bet, feel free to contact me directly
[00:24:43.120]at TField2@unl.edu.
[00:24:46.377]And you can find our great stories
[00:24:48.870]of wonderful young entrepreneurs at engler.unl.edu.
[00:24:53.840]And we would love to engage with people listening to this.
[00:24:58.690]We are coachable, and we need your help,
[00:25:00.800]and we love to meet you at the intersection of good ideas.
[00:25:04.200]Great, thank you so much, Tom.
[00:25:05.416](energetic music)
[00:25:06.590]Thanks for listening to Rural Futures.
[00:25:08.720]Reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram,
[00:25:10.840]and Twitter @RuralFutures to let us know what questions
[00:25:13.820]you would like us to ask our guests.
[00:25:15.710]And subscribe where you listen
[00:25:17.030]to make sure you don't miss next week's episode
[00:25:19.280]with Dr. Tim Griffin of the Friedman School
[00:25:21.550]of Nutrition Science and Policy
[00:25:23.200]at Tufts University, in Boston.
[00:25:25.600]Through his research and teaching,
[00:25:27.120]Dr. Griffin explores the entire food system.
[00:25:29.760]From the impact and profitability of agriculture,
[00:25:32.270]all the way through who has access to food.
[00:25:35.540]There is this big set of challenges,
[00:25:37.197]and to think that challenges that are faced
[00:25:39.980]and the solutions are always totally different
[00:25:42.580]in rural environments, whether it's in Nebraska,
[00:25:45.980]or in Honduras, or whatever, anywhere in the world,
[00:25:49.490]are totally different, and kind of mutually exclusive
[00:25:52.570]from the challenges in urban areas.
[00:25:54.460]I actually don't believe that.
[00:25:56.090]There are differences, but there's also similarities.
[00:25:59.340]When you're talking about the food system,
[00:26:01.440]there's an obvious linkage, and that is that most,
[00:26:04.210]but not all of our food is produced in rural areas,
[00:26:06.700]but not all of our food is consumed in urban areas.

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Rural Futures with Dr. Connie Episode 3 Featuring Dr. Tom Field

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