Sewage sludge. The mere thought almost puts you off your lunch, doesn't it? Ah, but convert it to biosolids, and that's another story! Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials that are left over after the disposed sludge is processed and treated. Biosolids contain nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium (the same ingredients found in chemical fertilizers) as well as magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc and calcium, all of which are desirable components for farmland.
In days gone by, municipalities would deal with their raw sewage by dumping it into a nearby river or lake. Truth be known, this practice still occurs in many areas. More and more municipalities, however, are now required to treat their wastewater, and dispose of the treated byproduct either through recycling it as fertilizer, incinerating it, or burying it in a landfill.
Applied to farmland, biosolids serve many beneficial purposes. The application of biosolids replenishes organic matter which is depleted during the crop cycle, reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, improves crop growth and yields, and reduces production costs of the farmer's crop. Biosolid application improves soil structure, reduces erosion and runoff, and increases the soil's capacity to hold water.
The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs established guidelines to monitor and control the utilization of biosolids in Ontario that governs the actions of biosolids producers, haulers, and users. Producers must obtain approval of their material before it can be spread on agricultural land. The specific site must be approved and granted a Certificate of Approval. The materials must be shown to be of benefit to crop production or soil health, and not to degrade the natural environment.
Much of the onus is on the treated sewage sludge hauler to meet the guidelines. The hauler and applicator, or biosolids management company, must spread the sewage biosolids at the correct and approved rate, and must comply with separation distances from watercourses, groundwater, bedrock, residences and water wells. Done properly and with due care, recycling biosolids is an excellent use of sewage sludge.
What Are Your Bad Habits When You Confront Irresistible Forces?
You need to be aware of your own habits before you can fully comprehend the habits that your organization has. An organization has more bad habits than any person in it because the bad habits of each person are increased by the combined effect of the other bad habits of other people.
For example, in the early days of Dell Computer, Michael Dell had not yet recruited strong, experienced executives who had dealt with large, irresistible forces in fast-growth situations. As a result, many important issues about irresistible forces were not addressed until they became painfully large, as occurred when Dell first developed an unsuccessful line of portable computers in 1993. The bad habit was that Dell Computer was relying too much on Michael Dell at that point.
Now try some self-examination. Ask yourself the following questions:
How do react to difficult travel delays?
Begin by listing all the emotions that you felt strongly at one point or another in the worst delayed trip that you have ever experienced. Then, consider how those emotions might have affected your behavior.
For example, think about these reactions in terms of what would have happened at your negative emotional peak. At what point did you become irritable? At what point (if any) did you become angry? At what point (if any) did you become frustrated? At what point (if any) did you give up on trying to make things better? At what point (if any) did you become stubbornly determined with no thought of quitting?
What irresistible forces have you encountered the past while working in your enterprise? If you are having trouble finding any, here are some questions that can provide clues:
(a) What is working much better than you expected? Why did that occur?
(b) What is working much more poorly than you expected? Why?
(c) Where is demand or prices for your products or services suddenly speeding up or slowing down?
(d) When can you expect demand or prices to be more elastic or inelastic? What causes that?
(e) How have you personally reacted to irresistible forces that affected your organization in the past?
With respect to this question, you'll learn the most if you pick the most painful and difficult experiences you have had, especially the ones that you would like to forget about. A real lesson for you will be to locate the circumstances under which you have made the worst errors, driven by negative or positive emotions. Be sure also to give yourself credit for what you did well. You can build on that success in the future.
How could you improve your ability to stay calm, to have an open mind, and be effective in similar circumstances in the future? One answer to this question is to give yourself some emotional space when a situation first arises.
Then while you are suspending judgment about how you choose to react, you can try to step outside yourself and examine your situation as a third person would. That perspective should help you become more objective about your situation. You may find it helpful to imagine different types of people in that third-person role, such as an entrepreneur in a start-up, an executive you admire, a parent or other person you respect, or even your best friend.
Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
Both Robert Parker & Donald Mitchell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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Donald Mitchell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Insurance and Internet Marketing. Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is coauthor of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. You. Donald Mitchell's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.