Plant the Seed Right: A People-Oriented Outcomes Approach

The entire meaning or implication of this post could change with a simple positional switch of two words: “seed” and “right.” In fact, I’m here to argue that many of us in our workplaces default to the idea of “I just have to plant the right seed.” What if there’s another way to look at this? Let me illustrate what I mean.

About a year ago, I was working in my yard when my neighbor called me over to our shared fence. As I walked over, he began to point out a particular plant that had grown onto his side of the fence. From my vantage point, it was a majestic member of the plant family. I noticed it every time I walked out of my home, marveling over several months at its growth among other plants and admiring the flowers blooming up and down its stems. My dream-like understanding was abruptly halted by these words from my neighbor: “Hey man, I’ve been wanting to tell you, I know it looks good, but that’s a weed.”

I was genuinely shocked and immediately began trying to pull it up and cut it down. However, as my neighbor had warned me, it was going to be a challenge. The “weed” had taken root and made a home, and it took me well over an hour of labor to completely remove it. How could this seemingly beautiful plant suddenly become the most hideous nuisance? The explanation is simple. It’s in the definition of the word. A weed is generally defined as a plant growing where it is not wanted and in direct competition with the plants intentionally planted around it.

Here’s the key: the plant I was marveling at before my perspective shifted wasn’t the result of someone planting the wrong seed, but rather someone not planting the seed right. A dandelion in my yard is certainly a weed, but a dandelion in a dandelion garden is perfectly at home. The seed that produces the dandelion isn’t inherently bad, but it can certainly be out of place due to poor or mistaken planting.

Many of us are navigating workplaces filled with people who were planted incorrectly or who have had seeds, knowledge, and/or strategies planted in them wrongly. This creates a variety of problems, but one of the most common is that it fosters an environment where toxicity can grow. You want your coworkers or direct reports to be strategic, but you’re only seeing manipulation. You want them to advocate for themselves, but instead, you encounter selfishness. You want them to embrace work-life balance, but you’re faced with entitlement. The list goes on, but maybe, just maybe, they’re struggling to navigate the tension between these areas.

We all at times must hold the tension between two seemingly competing variables. An individual wants to be strategic, but if met with resistance time and again, it may feel like manipulation is the only answer. This way of thinking can be applied to almost any scenario. The key is to provide them with the tools to create bridges, even when it feels like there isn’t one.

It starts with them knowing, and you accepting, that it isn’t about planting the right seed because we all belong somewhere. Rather, it’s about ensuring that we plant the seed right.

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