Lushness Takes Time

I was looking at my herb garden today, proud of how lush it was looking and thinking some plants were getting a bit too big.

I kid you not, this made me think of organization culture and how we are rarely patient enough to see changes and improvements through to fruition.

Lushness take time, but it is worth it.

If you are a manager, leader, HR/OD/Training pro, or small buisness owner, you need to be concerned about sculpting your organization's culture.

Our ideas start innocently enough, and we may even acknowledge that change takes time.

We start by planting seeds. It's thrilling when we see the first signs of progress. We are giddy for a moment - it's working!

That initial excitement and satisfaction with the small wins does not last long. We look at how far we have come and expect all the gaps to begin filling in. But growth is methodical and takes time. Even with a strong program that nourishes the new plantings, it takes time.

As things begin to mature we are buoyed, but our expectations of how much fruit the new organization can bear is often too high. Peak performance and beauty take time. Many leaders don't see their efforts beyond this point because we are impatient in Corporate America and we need promotions every 18-24 months. Hardly enough time to really have an impact.

This is not the lush life, it's a life of planting, fertilizing, and then bailing out (I am not pointing fingers, I have done this too).

Lushness take time. And for the few who see the process of building a corporate culture through, the rewards are sweet. A productive and full culture is a beautiful thing, but most of us will never see it because we are too impatient.

There is something noble and fulfilling about staying with one organization, one department, one team, long enough to leave your legacy and have a profound impact.

And it doesn't end. There's always change and this adds to the dynamics of the organization.

I need to tame a few plants and make room for a new batch of basil plants.

Comments

[Rosa Say]

Aloha Lisa,
Love your post today!
Are all these pictures of your place?
Rosa

[Lisa Haneberg]

Thanks Rosa. Yes, this is my small herb garden, taken in 2003, 2004, and this week. And those are my little seedling ready for planting! It will be even prettier when the lavender blooms, but I could not wait.

BTW - someone else asked me why my house light is on during the day. Funny thing, but I have a terrible habit of blowing out bulbs when I touch a light switch so I tend to leave the outside lights on (with highly efficient bulbs, of course).

[Troy Worman]

...makes you "think of organization culture and how we are rarely patient enough to see changes and improvements through to fruition." So true.

I was thinking Covey and his Rule of the Harvest. You have to pay the price.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Troy, I had forgotten about the Rule of the Harvest, but it's a good fit.

Being able to see things through is one reason why I have spent most of my career working inside corporations. I like to develop the relationships and have the luxury of putting slow and small (but profound) interventions in place. One of my favorite ways of changing the culture is to reshape the management team. This takes time.

Funny, now that I am out on my own, my blog is my longest running "conversation." It's a regular conversation. I wish I knew more about who was on the other end of the conversation, but every now and then I get a nice email from Topeka/France/Down Under/The Senate and I feel connected again! (Not the same, of course, but still nice.)

I know that comments take time and we often don't feel motivated to leave them (I'm the same way), but they really do make a difference. They complete the communication loop and help the blogger know which topics resonate and which do not.

I appreciate the time you share with me each day. And you help keep me sharp!

[Jozef Imrich]

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-Robert Frost, American poet (1874-1963)

It is in the garden that is real wisdom and not pieces of gold and silver ...

[Lisa Haneberg]

Hey, totally cool quote, thanks Jozef!