My wife, children and I have a farm in beautiful and peaceful Patagonia, where we fatten cattle. Each fall we buy a few hundred calves, recently separated from their mothers, and then keep them for 11 months, letting them feed on our natural grass. Once they’ve gained enough weight, we sell them and restart the cycle. The first year we did this, results were spectacular: The animals doubled their weight and prices were sky-high. In the years that followed, we started buying calves from better farms but, for some reason, our average annual weight gain kept dropping, along with our revenues. And last year’s selling season was our worst ever.
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December 10, 2013
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New!
HBR Learning
Attracting and Cultivating Talent Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Attracting and Cultivating Talent. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Discover how to attract, hire, develop, and keep talented people who will grow and thrive throughout their employee journey.