In the mid
1700’s a whirlwind hit the English landscaping scene. That local hurricane was
a designer by the name of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. He was responsible for
transforming the gardens of over 170 locations. I’m not talking here about just
potting a few roses, rather redesigning the look of acres of estate, especially
the entire view from the front of the house. He moved mountains of earth before
there were bulldozers, uprooted and replanted trees, created lakes where there
were none; all in the name of creating natural beauty. Looking at his work
today, much of which has survived some 250 years later, it is easy to think
that the stunning landscapes he fashioned were the natural thing. Appealing to
the eye due to inherent artistic principle, his vistas were designed to stand
the test of time. It is one thing to have someone create a garden that has the
potential to last, it is another to have it maintained faithfully for 250
years. Today you may be standing on a precipice with your business, staring at
a proverbial hole in the ground and wondering how in earth you are going to transform
it into a lake, one that lasts a day let alone few years, when you are in the
middle of a drought.
The
principles that you need are the same now as then. They are the same regardless
of your position; whether you find yourself as a CEO, a sole trader, a middle
level manager in the private sector, or a government employee. They matter in
times of crisis as well as in less stressful situations.
Give an account
of your actions and your finances. Be accountable to yourself, to your spouse,
to staff, to investors, to the taxman. You are not an island. People need the surety that comes
with knowing how things are being run well and that dealings are open and
transparent. Accountability keeps you above board in your actions and stops you
from unscrupulous dealings that have far greater ramifications.
There needs
to be an openness and engagement that comes with accountability. In the current
crisis many people are not being paid on time. If you find yourself in this
situation with your staff talk to them, let them know what is going on. Do not
just leave them second guessing and grumbling. Who knows, part of your solution
may come from those you have never bothered to listen to.
You cannot
expect what you do not inspect. This is the reverse of you being accountable.
Inspect your business; keep tabs on what others are doing. Call out negative
behaviours. Just as a garden needs regular weeding so does your business.
Inspecting helps you realise where to trim, nurture and fertilise staff. Tighten
your belt, keep tabs on your cash flow, plug the leaks.
Look forward
and at the same time face current reality. Vision is important. See possibility
before it is there. This was one of Mr Brown’s key assets. He could evaluate an
estate in an hour on horseback and already have an idea of what could be done.
His work was designed with the long term in mind-trees grow over the years and
that would need to be taken into account when planning. I would love to see
more twenty and fifty year plans coming from our cities, plans that are
implementable in the long term and not just changing with a new mayor.
Vision on
its own does not pull you into action-it is the comparison of the vision to the
current reality that brings about the drive. I have a dripping tap in my house,
if I never look at it and realise that it is dripping and wasting water then I
will never fix it, it will just keep merrily dripping away.
One of the
reasons people refuse to look at the current problem is that it becomes a way
of avoiding the work. Digging a garden is hard. Work requires effort regardless
of how you look at it. Do the work. There is no point having a solution to your
problem and then not actioning it. You will be surprised how many people avoid
taking action simply because they talk themselves out of it.
Keep
dreaming, keep building, keep digging, keep striving forward one step at a
time. Above all do not fall into the trap of doing nothing.
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