Leaders make hard decisions. We are constantly balancing resources to achieve the strategic goals of the organization. Sometimes it means pruning the good to make room for the great. Rarely are these moves made without some level of associated risk. We rely on the best information available to us at the time. Organizations are living and ever moving organisms. They have a life that can be compared to a garden or vineyard. In this context, the leader is the gardener and there are times and seasons for tilling, planting, water, fertilizing, and harvesting. Year after year you assess the market looking for new opportunities or improved methods and processes to gain efficiencies which in turn generates additional resources for reaching new markets. There is no room for doing the same things and expecting improved results.
Continuing with status quo becomes mundane and the harvest likely mediocre. At some point you measure the yield then determine what needs to change. The farmer and gardener would say its time to prune and graft. The organizational leader must retool, reshape, prune, and otherwise find ways to make needed resources available to move the organization forward. Simply said, this is easier said than done in the context of an organization.
Maybe it’s a new season for you. It may even be time to rebuild from the ground up. Depending on the overall health of your organization, it may be time for a radical shift. Radical can be threatening. Radical is often misunderstood. For the sick, diseased, or dying organization a strategic intervention may be required.
Change is never easy. The pruning process will be messy, but messy with a purpose and a purpose that holds a brighter future. There can be joy in the midst of change. There’s an air of anticipation and hope for the leader and the team. They are dreaming again instead of droning away with mediocrity. In the planning of their ideation session it has been rewarding to see their renewed energy. There is wonder and enthusiasm around defining the pruning that will make room for new growth.