In late January, the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) jointly sponsored the International Poultry/Feed Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. It is truly one of the largest and most well-attended trade shows and conferences in the world. Now, you are probably asking yourself, why would a show about chickens and feed have anything that would interest a dairy producer? I used to wonder the same thing, but I have come to understand that an international show like this is a place for new ideas, technologies and production practices that form the basis for future adaptation in other species.

We’ve all heard of the Peter Principle, which states that “in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.” One special flavor of the Peter Principle is something I call the Derek Principle (my apologies to those of you who share the name), after a brilliant software designer I once worked with, a young man who could apply his creativity and ability to work tirelessly toward the solving of some of the greatest technical challenges our company ever encountered. So skilled was he in the disciplines of coding, flowcharting and testing against all conceivable possibilities, that his manager naturally made the mental leap that Derek would make a terrific manager, able to lead and inspire others to the same high level of performance.