How about this for a sign in our lobby? It’s just a thought…

If you didn’t bring your creativity, you might as well not be here.

If we don’t allow you to show your creativity, we might as well not be here.

We had a solid discussion on why we work today. A good friend said that as we go through life, our motivation to work changes from “survival to significance.” In my life, I have seen motivation for working mature from personal survival to personal significance, then to family survival and on to family significance, but finally to providing significance to others.

It has been a long time since I have reflected on the chicken business like I have today. Our people are good people who taught me many lessons over the years. They showed me mercy when I was arrogant enough to think I knew everything. Thankfully, they didn’t depart before they completed the mighty task of helping me grow up. In their honor, here are two quotes:

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

“To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”

-Benjamin Franklin

I appreciated this advice from a good friend today:

I’m a big believer in what I call collaborative intelligence. I will never be the smartest guy in the room. But I know how to find, talk to, and work with people smarter than me. You have the interpersonal skills to do the same. My point here is to highlight another avenue to learn what you feel you need to know for the business but relieve some of the pressure you might feel to know everything before you act, a common pitfall.