I’ve gone through a number of cultural transformations in
various companies over the years and the process is one that always amazes
me. As I embark on my second year of
gardening (a project that somehow fell into my lap after being initiated by my
wife and kids), I’m struck by the similarities between what I need to do to
improve the yield of my small patch of dirt and weeds and what is required to
get the most out of a start-up team.
Thinking about the challenges presented by my little 12’ by
20’ patch of dirt helps to frame a lot of the challenges of cultivating the
right culture in a start-up. While
attempting to not carry the analogy too far, here are some of my lessons on gardening
a start-up:
- Growth – I learned last year that rapid growth sometimes causes big issues. Certain parts of the garden grow out of control and if not managed only yield stalks and leaves, and little fruit. My tomatoes grew into huge bushes when all the energy went into the plant growing huge leaves and branches but very few tomatoes. In other words, unchecked growth can cause lots of work and expend lots of resources without a corresponding increase in value. We need to constantly stay on top of the different parts of our organization to make sure the culture is evolving in a way that doesn’t create busyness at the expense of productivity. The need to prune is also a constant. Even during a high growth period, we need to remove what isn’t contributing to a better yield – whether that is people or a dis-functional organizational structure.
- Downsizing – My friend put in a huge garden his first year, and then realized he didn’t have the time to commit to managing it properly. Most of it just went to seed. The following year, he brought in his fences and downsized to something that was more in line with the time he could invest. Most start-ups go through a cycle of ups and downs. Hopefully, the downs are small blips that don’t require a major restructuring but the reality is that many of us face those major down slides at some point. Recognizing the need to bring in the fences early, and understanding how to do that without trampling all the yielding crops is a science. Some of the most amazing leaders I’ve seen were able to pull the trigger on change before there was a major issue. They saw a pending disaster and headed it off, and did so in a way that preserved the valuable elements of the company’s culture.
- Over watering or over fertilizing. Sometimes we try too hard. We think a little more of a good thing can’t be bad. Unfortunately, our good intentions sometimes end up drowning fledgling plants. One of the challenges of a start-up is knowing when to back off and watch what you’ve planted sprout. If you have good people and they are in the right roles, sometimes you just need to get out of the way. Make sure they know the resources available to them and what the vision is and then stand back and admire the fruit they bear.
- Market Dynamics – Sometimes a garden doesn’t yield because the eco-system just doesn’t support growth. Maybe you are farming pineapples in Maine (or in my case you accidentally sprayed round-up instead of fertilizer in a corner of the garden). This is perhaps the hardest situation to deal with but often the most obvious. This isn’t about the people; it’s about what you are doing with them. If you have a fundamentally flawed business model or value proposition, the right thing is sometimes to step back and re-trench. You might have all the tools to be the next Facebook, but you are trying really hard to be the next HP. Or maybe you have the right tools to be the next HP but the economy and business conditions just don’t support a second HP right now. It’s hard but sometimes starting over is the only answer. The trick here is to recognize if it is truly the market dynamics or really your execution. In situations like this you have to look at shaking things up. Look at modifying structures, responsibilities or incentives. You might not need to over-seed the garden with grass, just shock the system a bit.
The trickiest management challenge, but the most beneficial,
in any organization is people. If you do
it right you can navigate through any drought.
If you do it wrong, even the best of conditions can result in barren
ground.
