Pruning to Accelerate Change

I am a phytophile, or someone who loves plants. I don't just enjoy my plants while sipping coffee in the morning, I love cultivating them, watching them grow and change over time. I've invested many hours in it and it's quite a passion of mine. As crazy as this sounds, caring for my green brood has also helped me glean insights about life and the change journey.

When I first learned to care for plants, I thought a sunny spot and regular watering was all they needed. Over time, even the plants that survived my minimalist care needed a bit more TLC to actually thrive. Leaves died or got damaged as part of their natural growth cycles. Injured stems or branches ended up with only one or two happy green leaves. They were alive but not healthy but flourishing.

One key to bringing life back to my plants was in the pruning. Thoughtfully cutting away withering or damaged parts of the plant, actually created growth and health overall. Even though plants can't repair damage, they continue to supply nutrients and energy to injured areas. This means less nutrients and energy for the healthy portions of the plant. The plant as whole suffers - overall growth and health are diminished. Yet after pruning, my plants often create new shoots within week.

Pruning for growth can be applied to the human experience as well - both for individuals and teams. Continuing to directing energy and resources, when we aren't making any progress, leaves less energy to invest in new growth and change. Thoughtful and periodic pruning of habits, processes, tasks and sometimes even certain interactions can create the time and energy needed for change.

Choosing what and when to prune can be a challenging task. Some ideas on this will be covered in a separate post. In the meantime, a solid first step is to assess where your time and energy are currently being spent.