We’ve lived in our house for quite a while. I don’t really like large house payments, so our five-year starter home ended up being a longer-term investment. When we first purchased the house, there were a few small trees in the yard. In fact, the tree pictured below was only about 7 feet tall on our move-in day. Over the years, the trees grew and provided a great deal of privacy and shade.
That all changed this spring.
For whatever reason, a once healthy tree decided to call it quits. Last year it was full of leaves. This year, the leaves were small and then died off. We had hoped the tree was going dormant under stress, but a few tests told us it was dying.
Now we have a hole in our yard.
There are a lot of situations in our life where we think things are going well only to find that they’ve been slowly dying for years. Minor issues are dealt with in passing, usually because the leaders are too focused on just making money. However, in almost all situations, it’s a series of little events that bring down the house of cards. Too often, the problems snowball into a situation that becomes a burden on the roots of success.
“A tree with strong roots can withstand the most violent storm, but the tree can’t grow roots just as the storm appears on the horizon.” – Dalai Lama
They say, “don’t sweat the small stuff,” but the key is knowing what little things to worry about and what to pass on.
Can you identify the minor issues that may destroy your company’s success over time? Or are you too close to your own problems to see them?