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When my brothers and I were growing up, we liked to build treehouses. We started by nailing short boards horizontally to the tree truck to make a ladder. As we reached the point where the platform of the tree house would go, we continued to drive nails directly into the tree to build a base and some sides. It was years later when visiting my parents’ house, one of my brothers pointed out that all the trees we used for tree houses were now dead.
With that in mind, about 10 years ago I decided to build a treehouse for my children. Armed with research and determination, I carefully selected a robust maple tree as the foundation, mindful to minimize harm to the tree by puncturing the bark in only two strategic spots. We incorporated some swings and a sliding board with a platform to create a playground. To make it look nice and for safety’s sake, we added a thick layer of playground mulch each year.
Fast forward to the present, and the once-vibrant maple now stands as a somber testament to unintended consequences – it’s mostly dead. Surprisingly, my investigation revealed that the likely culprit behind its decline wasn’t the treehouse but rather the mulch around it.
Organizations are a lot like trees. Think of the visible part of the tree as the things your organization does – the processes to provide goods and services. When things aren’t going well in these areas, it’s fairly easy to diagnose if not treat the problem. Imagine the roots of the tree as your organization’s culture. It’s the values you talk about in conjunction with the habits of your leadership team that create this culture. Problems here aren’t as easy to diagnose. Unfortunately, issues stemming from an unhealthy culture often masquerade as external factors such as staffing shortages or software issues, diverting attention from the true “root” cause.
One of the tenets of the System and Soul framework is that healthy organizations require both a solid business plan and a culture where people can thrive. A place where people are given clarity, autonomy and are expected to produce results. System and Soul provide a variety of tools to assess and improve your organization’s culture. I’d be happy to share more – just reach out.
I leave you with this question – Are you are a leader who is suffocating your team with well-intended initiatives like I did to my maple tree? If you were, would someone on your team feel safe enough to tell you? Are you sure?
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