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In today’s fast paced, always on, adrenaline junkie society, we could all probably benefit from a Zen moment or two… I have discovered mine in my garden. From the minute I set foot in this coveted space, I instantly feel clarity of focus, simplicity of intention, and a deeply rooted connection to just about everything. I highly recommend the experience. There is just something about weeding, digging, planting, nurturing, and waiting. Knowing that you can put forth your very best effort, and yet still be subject to the forces of nature. It is kind of a gamble to a certain degree. You hedge your bets by enriching soil, buying quality seed, site planning and researching which plants work best together, but at the end of the day, the weather will either support or invalidate all of that effort.

I can’t help but find analogies between my gardening process and our experience running our family-owned business. As a small electrical supplies distributor, our work ethic and our intense focus on nurturing our relationships and attending to our customers is vital to our success. Selecting the best employees, and creating an environment in which they can thrive and collaborate is essential. We do everything we can to hedge our bets, providing training, resources, tools, and inspiration to minimize our exposure to economic climate and other forces beyond our control.

Maybe the most important lesson of all that my garden has taught me is that it is about the process, not the outcome. The energy I derive from feeling that connection to something so much larger than myself is enough in and of itself. The fact that I get to feed my family, neighbors, and co-workers from the bounty of my efforts is all a wonderful bonus. I’m quite sure it has all been said before, but since it feels brand new to me, I thought I would share some of the insights that I have experienced in my garden and I hope they resonate for you as well.

Lesson # 1: MANAGE GROWTH

One of the top reasons small businesses fail is failure to manage growth. My tomato plants taught me the nuances of this truth. First you start with great seed—or better yet, well established plants. Next you introduce them to your well-nourished and balanced environment. From that point on, you nurture and guide. If you don’t prune them frequently in the beginning they grow out of control and you end up with tall, leafy plants with no fruit. Taking the time to pinch off the excess growth early on allows the plant to channel its energy into bearing fruit; and training it to grow in a support frame in full sun exposure allows it to ripen. In business we spend time to select, train, nurture our staff, and create an environment in which they can grow and thrive. We keep team sizes manageable to ensure every employee gets the attention they need and can be heard, we weed out the extraneous clutter that distracts team members from our main focus/ mission; effectively cultivating success. By the way, the image at the top of this post is my most recent harvest–so if our business practices mirror our garden output we will be in great shape!

Lesson # 2: GO FOR THE ROOT

In gardening, and business, it can be very tempting to go for the quick fix. To just make things look neat and attractive on a surface level. But any gardener will tell you that the only thing you accomplish by hastily snipping off a weed is that you will get the chance to repeat the exercise!

To truly solve a problem one must get to the root of it.

When we find business processes that don’t work reliably or have break downs in communication, it’s easy to say we’ll fix it next time, or next time we will do better, but unless we identify the root cause for the failure, we are most likely going to find ourselves back in a similar situation.

Taking the bit of extra time when the problem is first identified, and using the proper tool for the job is so much more effective, and frees up space, time, and energy to ensure a healthier, more robust harvest. When we discovered some errors in our order packing we studied the process as a whole, and identified a set of strategies we could employ in our warehouses to improve our process . Rearranging our warehouse layout to make the process flow smoother resulted in a higher accuracy rate as well as a faster packing process!

Lesson #3: MIX AND MINGLE

Never underestimate the importance of building a positive and supportive culture in your garden or your office. There is no doubt that certain plants, and people, flourish together while other combinations are invasive and stiffle one another. In gardening, the practice of “Permaculture” focuses on combining plants with similar resource requirements and growing behaviors with others that also contribute to the success of the those plants (for instance — tomatoes and peppers both require lots of sunlight, water, and well-drained soil, and both benefit from being surrounded by marigold flowers which fend off insects that prey on these plants). In our office we have created an open space that encourages collaboration and interaction. We group our teams together in zones that allow them to support one another and communicate efficiently so that everyone is in the loop and can get answers to questions, follow up on projects, help each other out, and back each other up as needed. This also allows us to identify any *bad seeds* or destructive influences that can sap energy or choke productivity.

What does your company’s version of “Permaculture for Business” look like? Which departments need the most room to grow? Space? Training? Attention? Monitoring/Nurturing?

Which benefit most from being at the top (most sun) and which function best at the bottom (most nourishment)?

Creating a functional, physical, and theoretical “permaculture for your business” not only allows for optimal collaboration, but also for maximal bounty.

Erica Gallagher

CTO/CMO Paramont EO and Crest Lighting