We’re fortunate to observe grain companies over long periods of time. While they differ in geography, structure, scale, crop mix, and diversification, the ones that remain consistently successful share something deeper than strategy or circumstance.
They share a culture built on six components.
A few things to understand first:
These are broad principles, each encompassing many behaviors and decisions
They are interconnected and interdependent
They are not destinations—they can be improved indefinitely
I don’t present these as someone who has mastered them, but as someone who has learned them from customers and continues to work toward them
Here they are.
SKILL
Great companies are learning organizations.
Leadership and team members are continually building new skills and sharpening existing ones. Curiosity is encouraged. Questions are welcomed. No one is made to feel small for not knowing; nobody knows everything, and everyone should be learning.
VALUE
They focus relentlessly on being worth it.
Successful businesses ask, “How can we be worth what we charge/pay?” rather than “How do we survive a race to the bottom with our competition?”
They create value and are eager to defend that value, both inside the organization and out.
DISCIPLINE
They do the right things even when it’s inconvenient.
Discipline prevents small problems from becoming big ones. It simplifies hard decisions, creates consistency, and gives teams a stable foundation to act quickly and confidently when issues arise.
DECISIVENESS
They don’t carry around the weight of unmade decisions.
In an industry where conditions change fast, successful companies choose yes or no and keep moving. They avoid “I’ll think about it” and the drag that indecision puts on progress, morale, and momentum.
TOGETHERNESS
They refuse to operate in isolation.
They actively engage with peers, partners, and their broader industry—sharing challenges, opportunities, and responsibility.
Internally, they build teams that reduce bottlenecks, bring in new perspectives, and distribute ownership of the work instead of concentrating it.
SIMPLICITY
They make complexity manageable.
Not everything can be easy—but nearly everything can be simple. Simplicity helps teams prioritize, solve problems, and move forward without being paralyzed by unnecessary complexity.
In Short
Enduring success isn’t about having fewer problems—it’s about building a culture capable of handling them.
Your grain bid expresses your opinion of your own value to the people you are buying from. Pushing the bid a few cents seems like a small concession,...
Sherry Lorton : Mar 29, 2022
