Gardening and Managing Require Patience and Care

Now that it's summer in Chicago, I have gardening on my mind. Perhaps I'm delirious from the incredibly warm summer we're experiencing this year, but I'm anxious to share with you how tending to gardens reminds me of managing high performing teams. This may sound a bit unusual, but as I said, it's very warm in Chicago this year.

Both teams and gardens need oversight and direction. It would be so much easier if my garden would just thrive on its own once I got everything planted. However, over the years I've learned that if I spend a little time every day checking on things I usually catch little problems early and can handle them without significant effort. Obviously this is important with a team as well.

Diversity is as important for a team as it is in a garden. Some plants are quite nice on their own, but if paired with different plants, they individually and collectively become more beautiful. A number of plants have obvious beauty - they remind me of team members who are more vocal or confident in team settings. Then there are the quiet stars that fill in the gaps and show their own individual charm, while bringing out the loveliness of the superstars. Both require varying levels of attention and my garden would not be complete without their combined presence.

Unfortunately, I also have to be on the lookout for weeds. For example, there is a lovely plant in my garden with beautiful pale purple flowers and fragile looking leaves. Beginning gardeners might unknowingly believe they're quite lucky to have this particular plant growing in their garden. But an experienced gardener knows that the plant actually grows with alarming speed and winds itself around its garden mates so that they can't survive. These plants remind me of behaviors that, left unchecked, could do great harm to the health and performance of a team.

Both gardening and managing require patience. Sometimes when you think you're just not getting the results you wanted, you're surprised by unexpected growth and you realize all the hard work resulted in something very special and it was well worth the effort.

Performing Starts With Role Clarity

It’s not uncommon for my husband and me to go to breakfast on Sunday morning. One morning recently, we decided to sit at the counter instead of a table and I was instantly drawn into watching the work in the kitchen. As I sat and watched all the action, it was clear that they are the “best restaurant in town” because everyone knew their role and had a passion for getting it right the first time. But what in the world does this have to do with managing performance? Setting expectations starts with people understanding what’s expected of them and great performance is about getting the job done right.

At the restaurant, every employee was very clear on their role in delivering the product - customer meals. There was a person responsible for eggs, another for meats, another prepared pancakes, etc. When the orders came in, each person knew what they were responsible for doing and went right to work. There wasn’t any time wasted. They were able to move incredibly fast because they weren’t confused about what they needed to accomplish.

Another key observation was that while many people had a role in ‘creating the plate,’ only one person was accountable for checking the order to ensure everything was right before it went to the customer. It’s a simple example, but in business we often encounter problems when it’s not clear who is accountable for making sure the ‘plate’ is right, someone who is ultimately accountable to the customer.
Lastly, I’d like to point out that despite the fact that this restaurant is more expensive than the others in town, it’s always full. Customers, like us, appreciate when we get exactly what we ordered every time, and it’s delicious and fast. In other words, their performance exceeds our expectations – again and again. A great breakfast – and a great performance - starts with everyone knowing their role, executing it flawlessly and having one person accountable for the final product.

By the way, breakfast was delicious, as expected.