Why the difference? It turned out that the second batch were grapes grown using conventional industrial-style cultivation methods, including the application of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The first grapes he tasted were from an experimental part of the vineyard in which organic and natural techniques were used. The difference in the quality of the respective grapes was immense.
From this point on Dolan committed Fetzer to adopting sustainable organic methods. He did so not simply because it was the right thing to do environmentally or socially, but because it better sustained the vineyard's ability to produce high quality grapes and made the commercial product so much better. Good ecology and good business.
As a vineyard is an ecosystem, so is an organization. Wine is the complex product of the vineyard. Performance is the complex product of an organization. As Dolan says in his book, "Wine is one of the most complex biological liquids on earth, and although we are its makers, we are never quite its masters." This sentiment is also true with achieving sustainable high performance. Managers can only orchestrate people to perform but they cannot master them to do so.
Dolan and Fetzer apply the principle of sustainability across their entire business. They developed a triple bottom line to guide decisions and operating practices. It is built on the three E's – economics to measure commercial success; environment to gauge resource conservation and environmental protection; and equity to capture the interests of employees and the community in which Fetzer operates.
What lessons might we learn from the Fetzer experience and approach? Here's a quick exercise. (We recommend convening a group of colleagues over a glass of wine, preferably organically produced):
Think about your organization's people management practices.
-Do they enable or inhibit sustainable high performance?
-Are they more analogous to conventional or organic cultivation techniques?
-Do they enhance or deplete the ‘flavor' of your talent?
-Do they bring out their natural character or mask it?
-Is the enthusiasm and passion of your talent enabled or stifled by them?
In the end, there's a lot to be said for treating your people as Fetzer treats its grapes. Like their end product – wine, your end product – performance, will be all the better for it.
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