My husband used to drive an old truck.
It had a manual transmission.
4 speeds forward and one reverse.
It also had another super-low forward speed called “granny gear”.
If the load was heavy and the road was steep or muddy, he’d shift the thing down into granny gear and the truck would creep up the hill with slow moving powerful torque coming to the rear wheels.
When it was in granny gear that truck was unstoppable.
I’ve often said that Co-ops by nature have many unique attributes that set us apart.
Things that other businesses don’t.
One is that we have a granny gear.
We brought natural foods to the market and changed the world because we have a granny gear.
We pioneered a cooperative business model and changed the world because we have a granny gear.
We can shift down and with the power of our spirit of cooperation, and agile resourcefulness, we can move a lot of weight up the muddiest road.
Today, our granny gear lives in our mindsets.
In our humility. In our acceptance of uncertainty and not shrinking back from the call.
In our ability to carefully consider what we are paying attention to.
And in that unsinkable cooperative spirit that lives and breathes in each one of us.
Watch out world, co-ops are in granny gear again – things are going to change!