If you’ve been to the BARn, you’ve seen a little saying we have tacked up on the wall behind the bar–“A Doer. Not a Dreamer.” with the words attributed to Tom Asacker. Brian and I have been reading Tom’s blog www.acleareye.com since before we dug a new well to build a brewery in rural Missouri in July of 2010. He frequently has great things to say to those in leadership positions, to entrepreneurs and to anyone who’s interested in doing something that may seem a little crazy to everyone around them.
Every week Brian and I are approached by people that want to get involved in the craft beer business. Every week we are asked “How?” “Why?”…the usual questions anyone is asked about new life ventures.
Today’s blog post by Tom Asacker says so well what Brian and I were thinking back in 2009 when we began dreaming this up. We had a clear picture in our mind of what craft beer in the Ozarks would look like, and that’s the puzzle we are working on.
There are lots of you out there that have similar dreams. Some of you have said that we are an inspiration (which is so humbling to us). So take a look at Tom’s words–get that picture in your head and start solving your own puzzle. And big thanks to Tom Asacker for putting the words to our venture down in a way that we can share it with you!
The Puzzle
Succeeding in business today is like solving a living jigsaw puzzle.
It is massively complex and complicated.
You can approach the challenge in one of two ways.
Employ a “top-down” design.
Start with an image of what the solved puzzle should look like.
Then use that image to decide which pieces to add.
And, more importantly, which to ignore.
That was Steve Jobs’ approach.
He had a very clear picture of the future.
And of how he was going to create it.
He carefully arranged each and every piece of the Apple puzzle.
To bring that picture to life in a powerful and believable way.
Jeff Bezos is taking a similar approach with the Amazon puzzle.
Others take a bottom-up approach.
They have a vague idea of the future.
So they look at every puzzle piece that gets tossed in front of them.
And try to force fit those pieces to create something of value.
Before they run out of money and passion.
Einstein said that it is the theory that decides what can be observed.
What’s your theory of the marketplace and your unique place in it?
Sure, you can stay busy creating new “stuff.”
Rearranging what you see in an attempt to stand out.
Or you can start with a theory.
One colored by a deep empathy for the people you hope to serve.
Then you’ll see the marketplace with new eyes.
And those new eyes will guide you and your people to a new future.
Glad PRBC is on high ground!
See you in Fall.
Love this, thanks for sharing. Just recently started following. A friend recommends that we check out your brewery, and so we shall. Keep up the great work. PS My little blog is mostly about muscle cars and how they are key ingredients in my history and heritage. Have you ever considered having a car show on site? I love to write about the great places I visit!