The best time was 20 years ago
THE RUB
“What’s the low-hanging fruit?” I bet I haven't gone a week in the last three years without hearing this question. It's one of the most overused business buzzword phrases. I can see why.
It makes sense when you're starting a new project: it's good to go for those quick wins, what's something that doesn't cost a lot, we can make it happen fast, build some momentum, and see some results. It’s a clean metaphor that sets strong criteria.
A question I’ve never heard asked is, “What should we start now that won’t pay off for three years?” That question is hard to love. There’s nothing to show for it at the next review.
I took a day off last week to do yard work, and I got reflective about living in our house for two decades. We have more trees than most of our neighbors — 16 around a regular-sized suburban lot. Most of those we planted within the first two years.
It's been a lot of work — branches to pick up after every storm, pruning every fall. Our neighbors with all lawn have it easier, but our yard has more shade and more privacy.
I didn’t plant those trees for the version of me that existed back then. That poor fellow had a garden hose and sapling he kept having to re-stake. I planted them for the guy writing this in the shade.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is today.
Everyone quotes the second half. That’s the encouraging part — go on, start now. The line that’s been sitting with me is the first half. The best time already happened, and I can’t get it back. The only reason I’m comfortable today is that twenty years ago, I did the work I couldn’t yet enjoy.
THE FRAMEWORK
People aren't shortsighted, but the incentives are real. Quick wins are easy to read. They’re legible. You can name them, claim them, put them on a slide, point to them in a review.
Trees are difficult to read. Eighteen months of watering produces an inch or two at best, and nobody gets credit this quarter for a leap that pays off in three years.
Unlike farming, knowledge work has no seasons. There’s no spring that forces a sapling into the ground, no fallow stretch that the calendar protects. Our seasons are collapsed. We're harvesting last decade's trees, picking this week's fruit, and planting next decade's saplings all on the same Tuesday.
Teams don't focus on low-hanging fruit because they're foolish. They pick it because the system pays for the harvest and stays silent on the planted.
Chasing the fruit harvest isn't the opposite of tree planting. But it can lead to the urgent crowding out of the important, one successful week at a time.
THE PRACTICE
I conducted a quick ratio audit to see how much work I was putting into harvesting versus planting last week. I'm disappointed to admit it was mostly harvesting.
The little bit of planting that I did, nothing was longer than three months out. I’m calling my ratio 100/0. The crazy thing is I made great progress. I was showing results the whole time.
The fix is to monitor the ratio. The goal isn’t 50/50. The goal is for the planting number to stop being zero. One sapling this week.
Saturday is the Fourth of July. It’s going to be miserably hot. But thanks to the young couple that moved in 20 years ago, I’ve got several shaded spots to sit in and enjoy a nice cold beverage.