Mark C Winters uses gardening to explain why companies need to cut away projects, teams, or people that drain resources even when they look successful. Rapid growth creates offshoots that divert money and energy from your actual vision. Leaders should prune hard and fast rather than let slow damage compound.
In certain environments, plants can grow super fast. When you have really rapid growth, sometimes that creates unintentional sprouts. You get things like a branch randomly growing off on the trunk of a tree or something else that's undesirable in and of itself. That growth may look healthy, but it's not aligned with the vision for the whole plant. In fact, it's diverting resources to that growth and taking away from the whole. Organizations that grow quickly experience something similar. Things may develop that are not in alignment with the bigger picture. Even if they look healthy, they're not getting the company where it needs to go. But boy, do they consume the resources they can pull in. People, money, energy and time. They chew up all those resources and they don't even move the company in the right direction. Gardeners know they have to prune the unwanted growth on their plants. By lopping off the undesirable offshoots, they redivert resources back to making the whole plant healthier. The same thing happens when business leaders decide to prune back unwanted growth in their companies. All of a sudden, the energy and resources are redirected back to the vision. If you find this going on in your organization, it may be time to get out your business. Pruning shears, take a hard look at your structure and trim back things that aren't aligned with your vision. Many times people are part of this unwanted growth. As you prune back, you may find that some people just don't fit in the bigger picture. If they don't align with the direction you want to take with your business, then unfortunately, they have to go. People moves can be really hard, but you can choose short term pain or long term pain. Either way, there will be pain. Hat tip to Dan Sullivan. If you rip the band aid off quickly, you minimize disruption and get the organization back on the right path sooner. If you drag your feet, the pain will go on and on. And worse, it'll hold you back from the real growth you're looking for. So, three key points to wrap this one up. Number one, pruning is essential to healthy growth in plants and in organizations. Number two, people are often part of the unwanted growth in organizations. And while difficult, they may need to go. And number three, you can choose short term pain or long term pain in addressing these tough issues.
