I stumbled across an interesting question on Twitter a while back. Posed by consultant John Bladon, it read:

It was an interesting post to me for a few reasons. I know that business is business, but I always liked to think that on the turf side of things our shared trials and tribulations overshadow our differences. I love that when I ask a question on TurfNet or hit up a local super at the conference seminar there is no hesitation with an answer... turf guys just want to help.

Alas, there are still some of us who ascribe to the "what's mine is mine and what happens to another course is not my problem" camp.  I understand that those who think this way might believe that holding back on sharing their best ideas could give them a competitive advantage, but in the end this sort of mindset usually does not end up serving anyone well.

Case in point: Late this summer a course in our neck of the woods had a rather unfortunate occurrence and incurred some serious turf damage. In reality, their problem began a few years ago when the new ownership isolated themselves by deciding not to share equipment, loan product, or give any sort of help to their neighbouring courses.

Fast forward to late this summer and said course is having a really rough time. Suffice it to say that there are not too many neighboring courses stepping up to the plate to help out. Tough lesson to learn when things go south.

In this age of uncertain weather events and declining interest in the game I am not convinced that isolating ourselves and keeping our "secrets" from the other guys is the best game plan. It is only a matter of time before you or a course near you has to deal with a flood, hurricane, severe winter, or any other turf catastrophe. In your time of need it would be great to think that those local guys and gals would drop what they are doing and come by to lend a hand.

We all are in a constant state of learning in the business. What I know now is a hell of a lot more than what I knew then. I did not learn from isolating myself and keeping things "close to the vest". I learned by asking questions of people who knew more than I did, and I was always very grateful when they shared their knowledge with me. I would not be half the turf nut I am today without the shared input from all of those professionals who so willingly helped me out.

The broader theme of this post is "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." The constant message trumpeted by our prevailing culture is that the only way you get to be #1 is by taking care of #1. Only when you've achieved a high level of success can you begin thinking about others. Well, guess what? Life does not work out best this way. We, as a species, do a lot better when we help each other out. You want to see human beings working at the top of their game? Watch people selflessly giving of themselves and helping others out.

So next time your ownership tells you not to lend a hand or to keep things to yourself, maybe you can remind them that the next course in need of a helping hand may just be your own.

p.s. The title of this post is a really great kids book, do unto otters