Led by a cadre of dedicated engineers, physicists, mathematicians, and a support staff that pushed into the hundreds; NASA, on its eleventh attempt, landed two members of the Apollo 11 mission on the surface of the Moon. One of humanity’s greatest achievements, the Moon landing stands out as the singular metaphor for all that strive to achieve the improbable, the challenging, the seemingly impossible. While those of us in the cannabis industry might think we’re tackling the impossible, we are not.
The lunar mission itself was nearly derailed before it got started. The horrific launchpad disaster of Apollo 1, the immediate deaths of all three crew members, and the internal, Congressional and Senatorial investigations that followed, delayed the Apollo program for 20 months. Despite the gravity of the disaster, the complexity and sheer enormity of the task at hand, again, landing a manned spacecraft on a rock some 238,900 miles away from Cape Canaveral, that cadre of engineers, physicists, mathematicians, et cetera persevered. Their result?
So what can the cannabis industry learn from the moon landing? For one, perseverance. We all understand the frustrations of being in a cash-only industry, of federal scrutiny, of confusing policies and guidelines from state and local authorities. These are road bumps, sure, but we all know the tide is changing. Patience and fortitude, perseverance is the name of the game at this point. As Buzz Aldrin put it, “With a united effort and a great team, you too can achieve great things. I know, because I am living proof that no dream is too high!”
The takeaway? Build your great team and define your united effort by considering:
- The people you’re hiring, are they on the same page as you, do they push the ball forward?
- The people you network with, are your industry peers building you up or dragging you down?
- The people you seek advice and reassurance from. We all need mentors and a little help sometimes.
- Count on your team to help you achieve great things, to drive your business towards ever greater success.
Something else Aldrin said that bears repeating? “Trust your gut … and your instruments.”
How high do you want to go?