It’s Raining Again! Yep! It’s raining again today. We are splashing our way through the rainy season. From June to September, the North Island is a very pluvial place. Over half our expected 1400mm falls. Pastures and parks turn to pug; events are cancelled; Aucklanders drive dementedly.
But in the rainy season and freed from outdoor distraction, owners and leaders work hard on their businesses. Much commerce is accomplished. Deals are done, alliances are forged, business systems and processes are improved, people skills and structures are enhanced, new technology is secured, and tough decisions are made.
Meanwhile our exporters continue to pour their product across the wharves. Quality produce for a discerning world. About 80% of New Zealand’s merchandise trade is converted water. Essentially protein and fibre. Dairy, meat, wool, hides, fish, timber, fruit, wine, vegetables and flowers, plus their downstream transformations. Even aluminium smelting is water-powered.
A pessimist might view our near-total reliance on rain conversion as a national strategic risk, comparable to other single product economies that have or may yet hit the wall. Markets do die. And we are pretty bad at preserving our natural wealth. Our history is marked by pillaging our non-renewable resource to extinction – moas, seals, whales, podocarp and kauri forests, crayfish and roughy. But the water and land resource is endlessly renewable, if treasured. For the optimist, the rain, land and coastline are strategic assets of inestimable value.
Supertramp reprises….http://vimeo.com/41895108 Thank God it’s raining again!
Guest Contributor: (the late) Dr William Whittaker