When Dolphin Bay’s Braam Rust was deciding what to study as a young man, his choices were agriculture or forestry.
He came from farming stock and would have chosen agriculture, but his parents encouraged him to go into forestry. In both sectors, people work with nature. As a result, they tend to be down-to-earth and patient, making plans for the long term, Braam observes. In general, they are also “open and honest, with no fuss”.
“And we dress differently – in khaki shorts, boots and a hat,“ he jokes. “There’s no reason to dress up when you’re in the sticks.”
Timber is the foundation of our industry, and its originators tend to embody the values that Braam describes. It’s a recollection that comes to mind often these days, as we reflect upon what kind of customer and supplier Dolphin Bay chooses to be, and the kind of customer we might all select, if we could.
In essence, our industry is a warm-hearted one. People choose it because they love nature and want to work hard but at a steady, unhurried pace. Their values are timeless and include integrity and courtesy.
They enjoy seeing the physical fruits of their labour.
“We dress differently – in khaki shorts, boots and a hat,” Braam jokes. “There’s no reason to dress up when you’re in the sticks.”
Patterns
Talking to people in our industry and others, we’ve noticed patterns in business relationships. Some customers feel almost like family; these people are well-meaning, reasonable, and interesting. Our relationships with them are cooperative and build both businesses up. However, stress has been creeping into many relationships. We believe this is driven by anxiety. Where has it come from? Is it because we can forsake kindness and even become cold in the drive for perceived productivity, no matter the cost?
Is it due to comparing ourselves with others, and envying them?
Our industry’s beginnings are humble, and it helps to remember it. This is not to say we will go lacking; we should strive to do phenomenally well. But we know that there’s a way of achieving success which retains our sense of quietness and simplicity. There is no need for self-induced anxiety.
We confess that Dolphin Bay, too, has been there, done that and found it a waste of time, many years ago. Also, we found that these fears were lies being whispered into our ears to steal our peace and justify treating people poorly. (Yes, that was a big admission to make! But how happy we are that we learnt and took an active decision to do things differently, which is a continuous effort against a force like gravity pulling one down. As we prefer walking to crawling, we continue to make the effort.)
Why write this story? Firstly, we wanted to remind ourselves of these principles because they have been challenged. Then, we had to ask ourselves, “Are we contributing towards the negativity, or are we contributing to the solution in countering the negativity?”
We will continue cleaving to the simplicity and honesty that we value. And this we shall do at all costs.
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