Waikato Business News November/December 2018

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS November/December 2018
25
The Waikato River needs
SeaBubbles’ Bubble
French yachtsman Alan Thébault, the
brains behind the innovative James
Bond style hydrofoil water taxi, hopes his
invention will be in use in 50 cities within
five years.
The Bubble is Thébault’s
answer to the global
gridlock he feels is
threatening the world’s welfare.
Thébault plans to use the
Bubble to take congestion off
the world’s roads. Motorists in
cities like Hamilton, bisected
by the Waikato River, will
have an alternative to jumping
in their cars or taking a taxi to
travel from one side of the river
to another. Or from one end of
the city to the other. Thébault
hopes to provide the Bubble,
which seats up to five people,
for the price of a regular cab.
The solar powered Bubble
rises out of the water and travels,
silently, by dual propeller
on four skids at speeds of up to
46 km per hour or at 25 knots.
It’s not far from the travel
pods popularised in the futuristic
cartoon series The Jetsons.
“Because in 2050, there
will be four billion cars in the
streets, and even if they are
all powered by clean energies,
it will still create a massive
traffic jam,” SeaBubbles says.
“We believe that the future
of mobility will rise from the
water, a natural, historic path
in the cities that has been
underrated for a long time.”
The Waikato River was
State Highway One in New
Zealand, with waka plying
their way through the interior
of the country, long before
roads were built.
Thébault, also the brains
behind the world-record breaking
Hydroptère sailing hydrofoil
trimaran, wants to integrate
Bubble into the world’s
transportation system so that
it becomes a part of people’s
daily habits.
“If it inspires more and
more people to take the waterways
instead of the roads, it
will be huge progress for cities
around the world,” SeaBubbles
says. “People will be able to
change the destiny of the city,
one ride at a time.”
Hamilton might not be as
congested as London, Paris,
New York or Toronto, but we
would definitely benefit much
from a SeaBubbles service.
River crossings would literally
take a matter of seconds.
Whether SeaBubbles ever
makes it to Hamilton remain
to be seen, but I would use the
Bubble if the option existed,
and what a great addition to the
city’s tourist pull. What better
way to arrive at a meeting
across town than with a flying
start?
TECH TALK
> BY DAVID HALLETT
David Hallett is a director of Hamilton software specialist Company-X,
design house E9 and chief nerd at Waikato Need a Nerd.
The importance of understanding the why
When asked about
strategy and high
performance, I
always reference Nasa, JFK
and the janitor.
You’ve heard the story
surely? President Kennedy
was visiting Nasa headquarters
for the first time, in 1961.
While touring the facility, he
introduced himself to a janitor
who was mopping the floor and
asked him what he did at Nasa
– his response “I’m helping
put a man on the moon!” The
janitor got it: he understood the
vision, and his part in it, and he
had purpose.
Business owners regularly
ask me how they can get the
best out of their teams: how
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
> BY SENGA ALLEN
Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM
www.everestpeople.co.nz
they can keep their staff motivated;
how they increase productivity
and profit; how they
can engage their people with
their overall plan.
When I ask them how they
share their vision and strategy
with their teams, often the
response is pretty short.
We don’t.
Ahh, is typically my first
response.
Let’s look at another example,
one closer to home. Team
New Zealand, referred every
decision they made back to
one question: “does it make
the boat go faster.” Everything
the team did every single day,
was anchored (excuse the pun)
around that question – that
vision, that strategy.
“Will it make the boat go
faster?”
So why are we not sharing
our strategies and goals with
our team – generally with
the same group of people we
In my simple mind,
sharing strategy and
vision doesn’t have to
be overly complicated
or time consuming.
But you must do it!
expect to carry out the work to
achieve our goals?
Business leaders tell me:
“Well it’s complicated, it’s
commercially sensitive, they
don’t need to know the numbers,
it’s all in my head, we
have financial KPIs, that’s all
they need surely” and the list
goes on.
The other question is,
what’s the downside of not
sharing the big picture?
Lack of engagement, disinterest,
high turnover, lack
of commitment and loyalty,
mistakes and errors and the list
goes on.
In my simple mind, sharing
strategy and vision doesn’t
have to be overly complicated
or time consuming. But you
must do it!
How can we really expect
everyone in the business to
help us excel if they don’t have
clear direction; don’t understand
what part they play in the
business; and don’t understand
how they will be compensated
for their involvement?
The janitor at Nasa could
have easily replied to JFK by
saying:
“I clean floors here.” But he
didn’t.
The leadership team had
made sure that every single
person at Nasa knew what
part they played in achieving
the bigger goal. They all knew
how to make that boat go faster
– well, rocket, in this case.
Let’s make it easy.
If you’re responsible for
coming up with the big ideas
and driving business strategy
in your organisation, firstly,
write down your plan.
Don’t keep it bottled up in
your head.
Still haven’t met too many
staff who excel in mind-reading.
First, share it with those to
whom you report and get their
feedback and ideas.
Own it and then share it
with everyone else in the business.
Ask for their ideas. They
might actually be better than
yours.
Explain what you’re trying
to achieve, what the timeframes
are and what success
could look like.
The best strategy docs I’ve
seen are succinct and generally
fit on an A3 sheet of paper.
When folks drift off course
and the boat starts to lag, then
correct their position – help
them understand they may
need to tack a different way
to help achieve the company’s
goals.
High performance can
absolutely be achieved if you
regularly talk about the goals
you want to achieve, explain
what each person’s role is in
that, give feedback, recognise
awesomeness and coach when
you need to draw people back
in the right direction.
And then, repeat.
Lastly, if individuals have
a strong sense of why they
are doing their work, they will
become more effective and
more efficient in everything
they do.
Help your teams understand
their why and your boat may
just go a heck of a lot faster!
• See also in this issue: Your
staff are your brand
Time for (Spring) Tea – Anticipated harvest season arrives
Throughout the year,
1.2 million tea bushes
have been lovingly nurtured
100 percent organically
by Zealong Tea Estate’s farm
team, all gearing up towards the
annual Spring Harvest, which
took place last month.
Throughout November,
visitors looking out over the
48ha estate could see the team
of expert pickers, whose job it
is to pluck only the top three
leaves of the tea plants. While
one might feel that tea picking
is an exotic sight, the bright
hi-vis vests against the neighbouring
dairy cows couldn’t be
mistaken for anywhere else but
the Waikato.
Spring tea is widely regarded
among connoisseurs as the best
tea, and at Zealong there is no
exception, even though their
Southern Hemisphere harvest
season falls opposite that of
most other tea plantations –
they offer “the first Spring tea
in the world,” jokes general
manager Gigi Crawford.
The picking team are out on
the estate from early morning,
methodically working their way
across the neat rows of Camellia
sinensis bushes. Using special
razor blades strapped to their
two forefingers, they take the
most tender, young leaves. Full
of nutrients and flavour, these
are the results of six months of
horticultural TLC, and the reason
spring tea is so prized.
The Waikato climate has the
ideal combination of abundant
rainfall, sunshine, free-draining
acidic soil and the right
temperature for growing tea.
The famous Hamilton fog also
plays its part in ensuring that
the plants enjoy the good level
of moisture they need to thrive.
However, full organic certification
means everything that
goes into growing the tea, from
fertilisers to soil conditioners,
must be approved by BioGro.
Sourcing products which meet
these stringent requirements
can sometimes be a challenge,
but it’s one that Zealong is more
than happy to take on: “Everything
that goes into the plants
during the year will affect the
taste of the tea, so it is especially
important that we are
using quality organic-certified
material,” explains Crawford.
The delicate leaves from the
Spring Harvest are usually processed
into Green or Oolong tea
by experts in Zealong’s on-site
tea processing facility.
This state-of-the-art factory
and glasshouse was built
in 2015, complete with special
tea tasting rooms, “red zones,”
and transition areas for staff
to adhere to the strict food
safety certification Zealong
has achieved for its tea. Once
at the glasshouse, the expert
tea processors make countless
micro-adjustments as they dry,
roast, shape, and roll each batch
of fresh leaves. It is important
that they keep track – not
only is each batch of incoming
leaves different, but Zealong
tea has the unique status of full
traceability of each batch of tea,
down to the date and block of
pick.
Almost as soon as it began,
Zealong’s annual Spring Harvest
was over by December.
The pickers, 80 percent of
whom are locals trained by
the other 20 percent from traditional
tea-producing regions,
are now helping on the farm
and elsewhere on the estate, as
the bushes are trimmed and fertiliser
applied in careful preparation
for 2019’s first harvest in
January.
To learn more about tea
picking and tasting, book a
Zealong Discover Tea Experience
guided tour these summer
holidays. bookings@zealong.
co.nz | zealong.com/tours |
07 853 3018