Ok, they aren’t technically “lab rabbits” as in I do testing on them, but they live in the fields and under the equipment just outside my lab building. I think they would be happy to be associated with such a prestigious lab. Ha
You see, my lab sits on a large industrial park campus with multiple buildings. There are many open acres of nice grassland for the rabbits to graze on.
The other night I was outside chatting on the phone — loud sieve shaker was running in the lab — and spotted a bunny not too far away.
He was munching on grass like a champ. He’d bite off a stalk, then chew on it. Looked for a second like a farmer with some hay sticking out of his mouth.
I snapped a quick picture, you can see it here.
I started thinking about this rabbit.
He was busy, eating away like a degenerate gambler hitting the buffet at the casino after a 2-day binge at the tables.
This bunny was not the least bit concerned about a human standing just a few yards away.
And this started to bother me.
Why wasn’t this rabbit more scared of me? He could have hopped just a bit further into the field, getting away from me but still able to stuff his furry face.
Then it hit me.
This rabbit has probably lived his entire life on the complex.
And the complex is surrounded by a nice high chain link fence, topped with barb wire.
At night, a gate drops down and limits access to only those with passes.
Predators rarely make their way in here.
This rabbit has led a sheltered life (for a rabbit, anyway), and probably has not had to ever deal with foxes, dogs, cats, wolves, honey badgers, and other rabbit predators.
And the people here aren’t spending their time hunting rabbits. We are all just focused on our businesses.
So this rabbit and his relatives are artificially sheltered and protected from the savage things in life.
That’s most likely NOT like you and your business.
It’s certainly not like mine.
You and I are constantly fending off “attackers” and trying to get bigger and stronger.
If we were rabbits, we would be wary of predators bigger than us, but we’d also be “evolving” and getting a thick tough skin, more speed, and sharp claws and teeth to fight back.
There are lots of business predators that prey on us: lawsuit-happy people and groups, government regulators, cut throat competition, and massive shifts in supply and demand.
In my business, we are expanding our testing lines (frac sand is our first love, of course). Into areas like barite testing, bentonite testing, rare earth metals, gold, silver, copper. If you want it tested, we can likely do it. XRD, SEM, ICP machines are at our disposal, and we have competent people to run them.
How about you?
How are you improving yourself and your business to deal with business predators and fight back? Let me know! I’d love to learn from you.
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