What's time to a pig?

Many years ago I heard a story about a traveling salesman driving through the Iowa countryside, when he observed what appeared to be a farmer holding a pig over his head under an apple tree.

Curiosity got the best of him, so the salesman stopped and backed up. Sure enough, the farmer held a pig that was eating apples right off the tree. “Why are you holding that pig up to eat apples?” asked the salesman. “It’s because he likes the fresh apples right off the tree better than the bruised fruit on the ground,” came the farmer’s reply. “I see,” said the salesman. “But I’m amazed. Doesn’t feeding your pig like that waste a lot of time?”

The farmer paused, reflected, and finally said, “I suppose you’re right. But then again, what’s time to a pig?”

I like that line so much I have a desk clock engraved with “What’s time to a pig?” I think I enjoy the story so well because it underscores in a silly way how relative time can be. We live in a world in which there is never enough time.

I started working at Northland Buildings about a year ago, and became CEO this past January. Our advertising and marketing people have been asking me to write a blog for quite some time. I promised, but put it off and put it off again over several months. Because I didn’t have time, I told myself. There were always good reasons to put it off. I needed to meet with the banker, I needed to finish a report to the board, I needed to revise the strategic plan (which, interestingly, called for developing social media components of marketing, including a blog), or maybe I needed to call a customer or supplier.

The best way to manage time is to set priorities. Today I decided to make it a priority to write. I am admittedly a newbie, but here is my first blog. I have come to realize over several decades of my career that I will not wake up tomorrow with excess free time. Time is a scarce commodity, and seems to become more so with each passing year. At the end of each week, my to-do list always seems to have unfinished items that roll over to next week. Usually I say my list was just optimistic, though often other priorities materialize, and sometimes I am unproductive or just plain lazy.

I like to use a quotation from Helen Keller (also attributed to Edward Everett Hale) to guide development of priorities:
“I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still can do something.
And I will not allow what I cannot do interfere with that which I can do.”

Setting priorities is important from the company perspective as well as in personal life. I joined Northland Buildings because I was impressed with the dedicated and experienced people that make up the company, and with strength of the brand. While it is apparent we at Northland Buildings cannot do everything, we can do something. And we make it a high priority to provide our customers with a quality building at a fair price. We will strive to make the time to do it right.

Written by Pete Marsnik, CEO, Northland Buildings, Inc.