Think Inside The Box To Solve Problems On The Farm
In a year predicted to bring tighter margins on the farm, many operations will need to get creative when it comes to balancing inputs and income.
But Kyle Scheele, a motivational author, speaker and artist, says this doesn’t necessarily mean thinking outside the box, but instead thinking within the constraints you’re given.
“Stop saying ‘If only I had this or that,” he says. “Constraints are beneficial.”
During a keynote presentation at the 2024 Top Producer Summit, Scheele shared constraints can actually be a good thing on the farm because they:
1. Facilitate focus
A lack of resources can help you focus on what’s most important to the operation’s success and what actually needs done instead of trying to accomplish everything.
2. Require resourcefulness
If you don’t have the resources someone else does, Scheele says to ask yourself what else you could be doing to help solve the issue.
3. Inspire innovation
Farmers are known for being innovative. Think about what you can do with what you already have. Do you have equipment that may not be intended to complete a certain task, but could be adjusted to do it?
4. Create connection
Scheele shares trying to make something relatable to everyone ends up making it relatable to no one. How do your constraints make your operation unique?
5. Foster collaboration
We often turn to collaboration when there’s no more money or time to put toward a problem. Farmers are working toward a common goal through different methods. Share the challenges you’re facing with your friends, neighbors and others in the industry. Odds are they’ve experienced something similar – or know someone who has – and can offer new perspectives toward solving it.
6. Build resiliency and strength
Tough times build tough people. Learning how to make the most of the years with limited resources will help you do more when favorable margins return.
Scheele says the first step to making the most of the constraints you are given is to figure out the boundaries and tools you are working with. Additionally, he advises to change your perspective to think of any limitations as constructive rather than constrictive.
“Identify the boundaries and look for the gaps,” he says. “Pushing against the constraints helps you find the gaps and the hidden solutions.”
Thinking inside the box, and therefore breaking the myth of looking outside the box, can yield hidden solutions for your farm and business.
“Creativity isn’t limited to artists, sculptors and musicians,” he says. “Thinking inside the box is true creativity.”
Kyle Scheele was a keynote speaker at the 2024 Top Producer Summit and has been known as the “patron saint of crazy ideas”. Scheele shared a few of those ideas with the audience, including how his high school t-shirt business wound up with designs in Urban Outfitters, the story behind hosting a fake marathon with nearly 35,000 participants, and the photoshopped family photo that earned him over 1 million TikTok followers in a day.
As an author, speaker and artist, he shares his story with audiences across the country in hopes to inspire others to chase their own crazy ideas and become the people they were meant to be.
