The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat: The Power of Taking a Position

Legend has it that long ago, there was a vicious war between the birds and the beasts.?

The bat, caught between bird and beast, continually changed sides according to whichever was winning.

One day he would fight for the birds. The next day he fought for the beasts.?

Eventually, peace was negotiated, and the two sides met to discuss terms.?

Both decided to banish the bat because of his betrayal.?

To this day, the bat lives in dark caves, towers, and deserted ruins, banished from the polite society of both bird and beast.?

?

Who Is Your Company??

Tolstoy wrote, “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

This is also true of companies. Successful companies are alike in one way - they decide who they are.?

Unsuccessful companies are all unsuccessful in their own way - they wander aimlessly from position to position, hoping to capture whatever revenue comes along.?

"Just as people cannot live without eating, so a business cannot live without profits. But most people don’t live to eat, and neither must businesses live just to make profits." - John Mackey.

Purpose Over Popularity

We all want to be liked. It’s an innate human desire, and it’s usually a good thing. It helps us to manage our personal relationships; it reminds us of the safety in numbers and the danger of isolation. It allows us to participate in communities where we can collaborate and improve. However, if we let it run amok and define us, this desire will kill our companies.

Early agtech broadly overpromised and underdelivered - companies fell in love with their narratives and cast themselves as heroes. We beat our chests and proudly spewed out how we were better than the status quo, how we were revolutionizing the way food is grown, and how we were feeding the world.?

And we found that traction in this environment was hard to come by. Unfortunately, this seems to have taught many companies all the wrong lessons.?

• We reverted to “facts” in the hopes of overcoming perceptions.?
• We became timid about what we were building and started asking customers what they wanted instead of building a better future with conviction.?
• We focused on ourselves and our competition, obsessing over product superiority instead of obsessing over the experience our customers have.?

And unsurprisingly, the problem hasn’t really improved.?

Instead of telling stories full of purpose and conviction, we have reverted to cheap spec sheets, and grandiose statements built to “one-up” each other and “differentiate” ourselves when all we're really doing is comparative gymnastics leading to a race to the bottom.?

Abandoning our leadership position in the industry, we either try to usurp the role of hero that belongs to our customers, or we become afraid of our own shadow, not wanting to take sides or make anybody angry.?

But companies who fail to position themselves in their customers' minds, who fail to articulate their purpose in a meaningful way, become banished to the land of irrelevance…and most never return.?

“Once a mind is made up, it’s almost impossible to change it.” - Al Ries and Jack Trout,?Positioning.

Make something different. Make people care. Make fans, not followers.

Subscribe to more AgTech marketing insights?here.