Ingathering--bring it home

Planting, tending, harvesting. Organizations, and individuals, everything has a life cycle. Everything is started, developed, and ends. In the middle, people gather in the harvest, which is the reward of their efforts.

In the agricultural cycle, this is the time of year that we gather-- plants respond to the lessening light, the change of the angle of the sun. They put out blossoms and fruit when all the signals are right, when they’ve had water, heat, light, and food in the right amounts at the right times. Then, as the days shorten and the light wanes, they put out seeds for the next year, and they return to the ground.

In the organizational life cycle, we see the same thing. Organizations need people, marketing to the right audience, developing the right programs and marketing, and delivering at the right price point. When the market is saturated (or too many “plants” are in one place) they begin to fight with the others in their market space for dominance. Sometimes the market for their product dries up, another cause of decline. Sometimes things happen that remove them from the market.

And then they start again in some other way: it’s the resilience of life in its cycle.

What would happen if we adopted the mentality that helped us realize there’s plenty for everyone when we move from competition to collaboration?