Quote:
Originally Posted by quercus 
MD: we discussed this in another thread but I'm gonna repeat my opinion...
|
Although he didn't verbatim call himself "an arborist", Dr. Shigo was an arborist. According to your system of logic, Dr. Shigo should have quit teaching a lot sooner than he did.
Carrying over your form of thinking to landscaping, I know a lot of landscape contractors who either can't dig due to ankle injuries, etc., or just advance to directing the project. Have you ever heard of H. Kurisu who is probably the greatest name in Japanese landscaping in the United States? A lot of his work is done by employees. He may not even perform placement of boulders. He directs the crane operators to position and perform the work to his liking.
And I don't know anybody who does better Japanese landscaping. So is he not a master Japanese landscaper anymore?
Feel free to repeat your opinion, but I'll counter it with a larger exposure to all phases of the green trade, and more experience.
Exactly what I said I do to get a high percentage of estimates accepted.
Some craftmen like Kurisu, have risen to a level in the industry where they are almost like conductors of an orchestra, leading the entire production and coordinating the abilities of each independent.
I'm guessing that you may be a decade or two shy of understanding this kind of transition.
A big key to getting work and closing sales, is not being able to do all the work, nor knowing how to do all the work. It resides in being able to coordinate success of all the work.
This may be one reason why so many other corporations succeed and grow, but why many arborists never grow a company to a size that they wish to attain. Take Nike for example which started in my home state of Oregon. The owner of Nike and most of his managers do not make shoes or athletic gear. But that entire corporation succeeds, by coordinating the skills of each person.
And they know they are not obligated to tell any consumer what each of them can do, or can't do. All the managment needs to do is deliver a high-end product. And if their products are good, that's what's important to the consumer. The customers usually could care less about the inner workings of the company. They care about what's on the shelf, or what they get for themselves.
Who cares who is the "shoe maker" at Nike. Who cares who is an "artist" at Nike. Just show us the shoes !!
I think Stihl chainsaws would be an example that many green industry people could use for an example. We see the final product in commercials, in ads, and in our hands. But do we know if the workers trucks and desks are organized? No. Do we know who calls themselves a manager, machinist or an engineer? No. Not 99% of us. The important part, is not what people called themselves or how much they know, but if they can coordinate a successful operation. And that's what 99% of the general public wants - they want to receive something that is successful. I've yet to meet even a 1% who want a failure, with exception of someone trying to collect a blemished piece of US currency that eluded quality control and got into a bank.
If we want to know how to close sales or succeed in business, we have no need to use just climbers or arborists as advisors. We merely need to look at the companies who are champions at product quality and customer service. The reason those companies are champions, was not due to owners and individuals trying to continue to do it all themselves, but by learning how to adapt and succeed at DELIVERING the quality product even if it means delegating, sharing and coordinating.
Those are the business champions who have separated their success, from the ego of those who feel that professionals must continue to be able to do it all themselves.
The arborist who believes that one remains an arborist only if they can do the work themselves, has cut their own throat (future), leaving their professional fate in the hands of their body.
The arborist who believes that their fate does not lie with their body, allows their mind to determine their professional future. And the mind is generally much more versatile than the body.
And in a vast majority of champion / winner companies, this is exactly why the less experienced are not given the reigns of the company, but the elder or more experienced. And I'd be willing to wager, that Henry Ford, after his factory's first 20 years, was not nearly as adept at operating each machine or process, as were the individuals.