Everyone Sucks but Me – Are Cannabis Growers the New Computer Guys?
If you have ever run your own website or got your blog up and running, but found out you needed a bit more help to make the WordPress theme look right or you wanted to add a java script to your page, you just might know what I am talking about right now. You see, when you hire a coder or computer guy online to help you, say from a site like ODESK or UPWORK, inevitably they will come in and take a look at your work or the work of the guy or gal who worked on your site before, and the eye-rolling and moaning will start.
“Oh God, who did this, the code is so crazy, no wonder it doesn’t work right.”
“Woooooow, this guy’s code is so bad, I can’t believe he did it this way….”
“Jeez, this is some of the worst programming I have ever seen, don’t worry I can fix it all.”
I like to call it, the “everyone sucks but me” computer coder or helper. Why do so many computer guys go that route? Hiring a computer guy online is a commodity now. There are so many coders and programmers of different skill levels from all over the world waiting to bid on your job at a crowd source site. It is almost impossible to differentiate them from their 4.0 ratings and computer coding language resume. Ironically, you actually need a knowledgeable computer guy to interview them to see if they actually are good at the stuff they say they are good at or if they are just bluffing.
Saying you are “coder” or “programmer” is so generic right now that they feel the frustration of being lumped in with beginners or cheap laborers from poor countries around the world. Since ratings can be manipulated and resumes beefed up, how do you know your java script guy is really good or just got out of a 6-week computer coding program? To differentiate yourself as a programmer, you need to elaborate on your past projects and show your work, but to the common person looking at websites and work, they have no idea if the backend of the site is amazing or just a bunch of WordPress plugins.
Is this commodity type work already showing up in the cannabis space?
Cannabis growers. Hemp Grower. Master Grower. You will see all these titles and how do you know who has actually been growing the cannabis plant for 25 years and who just finished some YouTube videos and has done a few small plant grows over the past year? The bluffing in the hemp and marijuana grower space will only ramp up as the title of “hemp grower” or “cannabis grower” becomes more common? Who is the Joshua Haupe out there and who grew a few plants in college and now is trying to get into the cannabis space?
One common grower complaint I hear from talking to dispensaries and vertically integrated companies is the difference between someone who has grown 20 to 50 plants and has been successful, and someone who can handle a grow of 5,000 plants in one cycle. The knowledge may be there, but the scaling ability is what seems to separate the wheat from the chaff in this early cannabis niche. Just because you can grow 50 to 100 plants in a cycle, doesn’t mean you can walk in and just mirror that same design, layout, and schedule for 5,000 plants.
As more and more people consider themselves growers or experts in the growing cannabis field, the more that “everyone sucks but me” will come out as growers try to distinguish themselves from each other. I have talked to two grows in Vegas that had this same interview process with people as they looked to hire. They would bring them in, let them see the grow or the problem going on, and they would immediately get the “Oh God, what was this guy thinking, you never put the UV bulbs 2 feet away at this humidity level!” or “Wow, who set this idea up, it is all wrong!”
Well, the guy before you did it, and I am sure he thought his way was the best way out there.
Remember, as a cannabis grower there is a lot to worry about and know about in the grow set up. How about what kind of lights, how strong are they, do they turn like the sun shifts in the sky, are you growing in the dark to imitate night, etc. There are also many things around water, humidity, mold, bugs, disease, and soil that you need to be an expert on, or at least, try to be knowledgeable. What type of soil do you use indoors as opposed to outdoors? Are you using a probiotic for the soil? What about a nutrient boost mixture?
My advice for growers out there who get interviewed for a growing job or to join a grow team is not to bash the guy before you or burn down the solution to the problem you are looking at in the grow. You can say things like “I am not sure this is the correct idea here”, or “This set up might make sense outdoors but for in here I would do X, Y, and Z”. This niche is so new, and having been illegal for 80 years, many new faces are coming out to learn about growing for the first time in a legal setting. There will be mistakes, there will be light salesmen who tell you their light set up is the best. Nutrient suppliers will tell you why their nutrients and soil are #1 by far out there. How much should you listen to salespeople and how much is trial and error? Without an 80-year history of massive data, all the trial and error data only started a few years ago, and most of it in large corporate grow facilities.
You have to assume that the person before you did the best job that he or she could, with the knowledge they had at the time, so no reason to knock him down in order to try and raise yourself up. You never get higher in life by stepping on someone’s head.
WANT TO BE A GROWER, CHECK THIS OUT...
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