23/09/2016: The Pelletier Column, from curiosity to action

From curiosity to action

by Christophe Pelletier

Christophe Palletier

In my previous column, I wrote about why curiosity is a great asset when it comes to facing and preparing for the future.

However, that is not quite the whole story.

Food and agriculture are not intellectual exercises, they must deliver concrete products and results. It is nice to be curious but what do you do with that?

The answer to this question is quite simple:

action! According to the saying, knowledge is power. Knowledge is only truly power when it is active and circulating.

Knowledge that remains in a brain or in a drawer is not very useful for the greater good. The first step that I advise curious people to do is to always share what they learn. It is even easier today with the Internet, and there is a lot of knowledge out there.

By sharing, I do not mean simply copy and paste or click the share button. Before sharing, it is essential to make sure that what you share is quality.

There is too much information that is spread on social media while clearly not critically reviewed, not to say not even read; as is quite often the case.

The mindset here is a mix of enthusiasm, critical thinking and practical service orientation. The knowledge must be correct and the message must come over.

It also must be useful to the recipients; it must connect to their needs and add value to them.

The final result has to be better food through more efficient and sustainable systems that are financially viable.

In the food and agriculture sector, it must lead to always more collaboration and knowledge transfer in all directions within the entire value chain.

Often, the weakness of communication is that it stays too long in the same circle and other links, and consumers in particular, are kept too long out of the loop.

It results too often in misunderstanding, distrust and erroneous perception. Through collaboration and brainstorming, curiosity helps create a more accurate and achievable vision of the future, on which action can further be carried out to shape the future.

From this angle, there is no doubt that collaboration between all stakeholders is certainly an ongoing process; this is especially true with technology.

Read the full article HERE.

 

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