Blockchain Chicken Farm

"That sounds like a book for Strategy W***ers"

Despite guidance to the contrary, sometimes it can be beneficial to judge a book by it’s cover.

I’ve lost count of how many brilliant books I’ve chosen based solely on the artwork or the title or the texture of the cover.

The most recent example is a book called Blockchain Chicken Farm by Xiawei Wang.

This is a book which looks at the effects new forms of digital technology is having on rural China. Specifically, the effect it is having on food and farming in rural China. And whilst the setting of the book is extremely localised, the lessons it can impart are truly global.

Working in an industry obsessed with new forms of technology (sometimes at the detriment of everything else) and not knowing enough about China, this book ticks alot of boxes. I’ve been fascinated to learn about the challenges facing food supply chains in China (rife with forgery and foul play) and how technology like Blockchain is being deployed to bring confidence to consumers. Similarly, it’s fascinating to learn how AI is being deployed in service of Pig Farming .

One of my colleagues saw this book sat on my desk and loudly proclaimed that it sounded like “a book for Strategy W***ers”. Perhaps he too was judging the book by it’s cover. In reality, it’s a book for anyone who might be interested in where new forms of technology might take all of us, the ethics of their application and the potential upsides and indeed downsides their adoption may pose for humanity.