My daughter turned one this week. Inspired by her newfound love of reading (or at least flipping pages), I’ve been reflecting on the first book she received from her grandparents, Aesop's Fables. Reading the stories is a journey back in time from my own childhood. My favourite story…. The Tortoise and the Hare.
What's the first thing you think of when I say the word “tortoise”? With a heavy shell and short stumpy legs, naturally I’m guessing the word “slow” comes to mind. But the lesson of the fable certainly holds true, that “the race is not always to the swift”.
The older I get, the more I'm surrounded by lessons from the Tortoise and the Hare. I’ve come to appreciate the psychology and strategy of the unique competition between two unequal parties and recognize the benefits of underestimation versus the burden of excessive arrogance.
The hare is so keenly aware of its advantage over the tortoise that crossing the finish line becomes secondary to the self-satisfaction he gets from bragging to the other animals.
How could the hare lose?
I've always found it interesting that the storyline revolves around the hare. The arrogance and speed of the hare is the juicy storyline and the incredible loss it sustains is the ultimate narrative. The tortoise never gets any adoration for its inconceivable victory. But the tortoise doesn’t need adoration. It cares about one thing, crossing the finish line, and that is precisely why the tortoise won.
I've come to realize in the Canadian cannabis industry the tortoise most certainly wins the race.
I liken this industry to navigating your way through a minefield of shiny distractions, each of which are not core to your ultimate success and will inevitably take you off your optimal path. When hares move too quickly and without purpose, they step on many landmines, each costing precious time and resources. But the tortoise, moving with discipline and focus, is careful to avoid landmines, and as a result is more efficient with time and capital.
Everyone underestimates the tortoise.
At Cannabis Co-Pack, we’re a tortoise. I struggle sometimes to tell people that for fear of being called slow. But I’ve learned not to care. Call us slow, but also call us strategic, disciplined, and focused. We don't grow cannabis. We don't have our own branded cannabis product. We're underestimated because in the sexiest of industries, our business is remarkably unsexy. We solve a real problem that many have overlooked, and we do it without notoriety. We have one goal, to provide the most trusted and reliable cannabis co-packing service to our clients. If we do that well, persevere through every challenge and move at a deliberate pace, we'll continue to surpass the hares and ultimately win the race.
