Murray Horn is surprised his task to unite the strong wool industry has been compared with making peace in the Middle East.
His surprise stems from his view that the dysfunctional and under-performing wool industry wants to change, an opinion not universally held by commentators.
Dr Horn was last week appointed by Agriculture Minister David Carter an independent convener to facilitate a meeting of wool sector organisations, to begin the process of creating a single body to speak on behalf of the strong wool sector.
While not underestimating the task ahead of him, Dr Horn said he believed the industry recognised something had to be done.
"There is reasonable acknowledgement that something needs to be done and recognition that an outside person with fresh eyes and an open mind can offer something," he said in an interview.
"It is not unlike the work I did last year with the health sector.
"In many respects it's about listening to what people are saying and getting a common view, then getting things working and seeing the future evolve."
He had no view on where the industry should head and the route it should take.
"If I had, it would cut across the benefit I bring to that role."
The sector appeared fragmented and there was plenty of dissatisfaction, he said, but there was a desire to return to viability and Dr Horn believed that extended to support for a single industry voice.
Dr Horn has a bachelor of commerce (agricultural) degree `and a masters in commerce (agricultural) from Lincoln College, now Lincoln University, and following that embarked on a career in commerce.
He was a former Treasury secretary and chief executive of the ANZ Banking Group's New Zealand operations.
He is a director of Telecom and chairman of the National Health Board.
The Wool Taskforce report, Restoring Profitability to the Strong Wool Sector, provided a blueprint for how the sector could be restructured, but Dr Horn said that did not mean his role was "doable".
That report, which called for a single industry voice, rationalisation, greater market focus and promotion of wool's natural qualities, did not have universal support among the strong wool sector.
Dr Horn said he would begin his role by speaking individually to between 30 and 40 wool sector leaders to provide him with a better understanding of their interests, their view on the problems and any solutions they could suggest.
From this he hoped to create a "coalition of the willing" to create a united voice that can speak for the good of the strong wool sector, a process that could take two to three months.
But any structural changes would have to be driven by commercial decisions, he said.
While acknowledging the size of challenge he faced, Dr Horn promised to give it his "very best shot".
"If there is a way forward, I hope to find it. If there isn't, then I will be obliged to say that."