Lessons from the Life of Plants

Words: 830. Reading time 2 minutes 46 seconds

At this time of year most of the plants in my garden are working hard to produce the seeds of future flowers. Nature has them all focused on just one thing – reproduction: leaving enough of themselves to ensure that future generations survive.

And to us thinking, sentient human beings nature appears to be profligate.

The humble dandelion produces between 54 and 172 seeds per head and a single dandelion can produce more than 2000 seeds. Some estimates suggest that annually dandelions produce more than 240 million seeds per acre.

A typical sunflower will have between 260 and 800 seeds per flower head, depending on the growing conditions and a typical geranium will have about 5 seeds per flower and between 40 and 100 flowers per plant.

So, how come we are not knee-deep in dandelions, sunflowers and geraniums? Because seeds are like our ideas, efforts, experiments, trials and initiatives – some are successful; many are not.

If you are not seeing failure, you are not trying hard enough
Obviously a certain proportion of the seeds will not survive the journey from parent plant to place of germination. Many will be broken, burnt, waterlogged, eaten, aged or decayed along the way.

Some seeds may not even be viable (have life in them) to begin with. This is why many plants invest a lot of energy into seed production - to produce many, so multiplying the chances for the few.

And we would do well to recognize that success to failure ratio in Mother Nature and be aware that we could do a lot worse than imitate some of her ways.

Just because we plan, develop a strategy, set SMART goals and visualize our outcomes does not mean that we will always succeed all of the time. As Dwight Eisenhower pointed out: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Nature's manual for maximizing outcomes

Nature adopts a variety of strategies to improve the chances of successful germination. How many of these could we adapt to foster our own dreams and desires?

1. Plants have evolved -in most cases- methods of dispersing their seeds. This means transporting them to a place away from their parent, ensuring that some of them will find suitable conditions for growth elsewhere, where there is less chance of competing with their siblings for space (finding new markets).

2. Some seeds and seed-like fruits are carried by ocean currents. Such seeds are of the kind that can float for a long period without absorbing sea water and establish themselves finally in tidal mud or on beaches (waiting for favourable economic conditions to materialize).

3. Animals and birds disperse seeds, too. We often see them in late summer and early autumn with numerous seed-like fruits adhering to their hides or feathers (using a surrogate sales force and word-of-mouth marketing).

4. A variable proportion of seeds of many kinds of plants resist prompt germination. One example is the uneven ripening and shedding of the fruits of some grasses, such as the giant foxtail (test new ideas in series, rather than in parallel).

5. Many legumes, such as the clovers, produce a variable proportion of seeds with impermeable seed coats, which may resist germination for long periods (give ideas time to mature and develop, rather than getting carried away, releasing them before they are fully worked out).

6. Some species produce pods in which one segment remains indehiscent—closed—and the seed within it remains dormant for a long time, as in cocklebur (Xanthium), for example (where an idea has scope for variations and enhancements, start with the basic model instead of diluting the market and, possibly, increasing start-up costs).

Gardeners and nurserymen also give nature a hand by selecting for certain characteristics and using only seeds from plants that are seen to be disease and virus free. They also save only from straight varieties, in other words not from any hybrid varieties that have been crossed with other material.

The initiates we elect to trial should be similarly selected.

The story of Brython the Bean

The great thing about cultivating your own seed (ideas) is that you can actually improve your selection with a little bit of thought to what you are doing. The late Brython Stenner from Glamorgan, South Wales, even though only a keen amateur, quickly became a legend in his own life time. His thinking was that you should select only the strongest, healthiest plants, those that consistently produced the longest and most filled pods along the row. Does that sound obvious? It does now.

Because of one amateur’s dedication, the 'Stenner Strain’ bean is the only bean that is consistently winning on the show benches today. They not only look good, they taste good as well.

So, even with careful preparation and nurturing, be prepared for less than 100% germination with all your schemes.

Do not be hugely surprised if some things take longer to come to fruition than others.

And, as Robert Louis Stevenson remarked, “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

People buy from people? Give me a break.

Words: 654 Reading time: 2 minutes 11 seconds

You may feel the same as me. When I find the tired, foot-sore and weary still being dragged from the back of some damped, dark cupboard, dusted off and pressed yet again into unconsidered service I have one of two reactions. Either I feel resigned (not again), or I feel exasperated (good grief).

As my previous posting was on the tired, foot-sore and weary idea of people staying in their comfort zones this posting will look at the equally drained, drawn and discredited idea that “people buy from people”.

Do they? Do they really? What, all the time? Every time? I don’t think so.

Let’s look at an entirely fictional, yet believable week for you and me.

On a Monday morning we leap out of bed at the first peep of the alarm clock ready and raring to go. Freeze frame…

That bed; do you know the people that constructed it? And your alarm clock; that was your local watchmaker, wasn’t it? What about the building you’re standing in; any idea who…?

Moving on, after your shower using the water provided by that nice man from the local reservoir, you tuck into your breakfast. Of course, you’re not really sure who made the bread for your toast and the cereal in your bowl, but hey, you’re only eating them after all; there’s nothing really important about buying from people here.

Then you get dressed (your personal tailor at M&S is so good) and head off safely in your car at 70 m.p.h. (built by Joe, the guy at the motor works on the corner) using the road constructed by the boys you always hang out with in the bar of The Pick & Shovel. You may smell the flowers in your front garden as you pass, the seeds all lovingly harvested and grown by Betty at the nursery in the next village.

At the office it’s lucky Mr Dell has already delivered your computer, together with a little note offering to meet you for coffee, because you can’t wait to log onto the internet provided for you by…well, you can’t quite remember them all. There were so many at the Christmas party last year; but nice people.

Are they nicer than the people who made the pen in your hand, or the paper you’re about to write on? You can’t quite decide as you take an aspirin, a drug made by people in Malaya who you have never met, are never likely to meet, and a drug the strength and constituent parts of which you haven’t checked and don’t know who might have done so on your behalf.

Let’s stop. It isn’t even ten o’clock on a Monday; how many people have you bought from that you actually know?

People buy from people? Give me a break.

People buy from supermarkets, from Amazon and EBay, from slot machines and petrol station forecourts, from serve-yourself tills and McDonald’s. Most people buy anonymously. They buy as much as they can, as often as they can, without having to interact with anybody. People scare them. A soap on the TV is about as close to real people as they want to be.

So, what is it people are buying, if it isn’t from other people?

People are buying minimum inconvenience and as much certainty as they can with as little precious cash as they can spare.

Now as a person you can supply some of that certainty by building empathy and giving reassurance. If you can convince the other party that you are a nice person, that you want to help them and are not trying to rip them off, then you might make some progress.

People only buy from people when they actually help to increase certainty. Thinking that people buy from people is like being fooled by a three-card trick. You’ve missed the essence of the transaction by concentrating too closely on the players involved.

Lessons in Staying Positive – #6

Words: 455. Reading time: 1 minute 31 seconds.

The great thing about creative thinking is that apart from a little time and effort it is also free. Coming up with new ideas is essential for any business as it takes them forward and helps them keep ahead of their competition.

The down side of creative thinking is that it can feel scary because it is all about new ideas that have not been tested, where as you could be spending your time working on what you already know and do.

But please remember these two things:

1) What you know may not be working because of the change in circumstances we are already experiencing, or may start to fail at some point.

2) Any new ideas you have will continue to be free up to the point where you consider them good enough to start taking action.

This economic climate could be the time your company makes a massive leap forward, but it will all depend on your willingness to look.

The sixth lesson is: thinking creatively is as valuable in tough times as it is in the good times.

There are always far more options than people think they are; just give yourself permission to explore for a bit.

Creative thinking is essential for a company's development

The best way to do this is to throw all the known rules out of the window for a while and begin exploring the possibilities. For this initial phase accept every idea, however ridiculous it appears. This is not the time for criticism and exclusion. This is the time to get a little wild. Most people get hampered by thinking about what can't be done and who they are not, rather than what they could do and what they could become.

Once you have made the time to look seriously how each idea could be implemented and what that might mean, then you can permit those rational judgements back in to test for practical viability. Oh, and you can get back all the known rules that you threw out of the window for a while, but only if they are really still appropriate.

Strange as it may seem, many more businesses suffer from a lack of imagination than suffer from a lack of cash. Too much capital and it tends to replace creativity. Companies without money must dream, imagine, co-operate and improvise. Companies awash with money try to buy solutions from outside consultants – often with very poor results.

It was as recently as August 2008 that Woolworths revealed they had been working with strategy consultants LEK – after already having spent a small fortune with consultants over the last 5 years on their supply-chain logistics. And they were still outperformed by Wilkinsons, with the inevitable results.

Believing Is Seeing

We are so lucky. As consumers we are blessed with so many offers of help and assistance – so many that it’s difficult to choose between them.

· You can’t get better than a Kwik Fit fitter – they’re the ones to trust.

· Halifax will pay you 60 times more than the others could.

· L'Oreal – because you’re worth it.

…and, if all else fails, there’s always the DFS sale.

Aren’t these companies good to us?

In business we are equally fortunate. Wherever you turn there is someone offering to do it cheaper…or faster…or bigger…or easier. Just about anything you might – just possibly – regard as a problem can be instantly fixed by picking up the phone and inviting the Merlins of the market into your business.

Whether it’s finding more clients, getting your invoices paid, dealing with your staff, or optimising the internet there are a plethora of individuals, partnerships and companies ready and waiting with sure-fire panaceas.

How could you go wrong?

Likewise, if it’s your business itself that’s the problem, then never fear. There are any number of know-it-alls prepared to tell you how you should run it. Hell, for the right amount of money paid in advance, they’ll even do it for you.

In the quiet of the wee, small hours I sometimes wonder how we mortals so often get it wrong when gold-plated success is so easy to come by. Were we out of the room when they handed out all of the answers?

I doubt it.

Before those outside our business can even hope to make a contribution two things have to happen:

We have to believe that the suggestion they have to offer will actually work for us, and

We have to believe that particular firm or individual is the right one to work with us.

Whatever the ‘fix’ is, we have to buy into it ourselves, mentally and financially, before opening the door. Unless we first experience that mind-shift the ‘fix’ is likely to be doomed before the project even begins. Hesitancy in accepting the proposed solution is probably behind most of the failed consultancy projects. And most consultancy projects fail.

There is a threat to any business from someone who thinks they know better than you how to run it. Maybe they do know better, but it is still your business. However good their ‘fix’ is on paper, you will modify, undermine, sabotage and destroy it – perhaps subconsciously – if your pattern of beliefs do not shift accordingly.

So crucial are your beliefs and associated values that it would make most sense to start with those first, before you call the Merlins. At the end of the day you will probably find you can do without the outsiders, because you will have much better ideas yourself.