Burn Baby Burn

If you think that a company can be a living and organic thing. If you agree that a company germinates as an idea, grows into something different and adapts over time to change, then this post is for you.

I while I back I heard a pastor at my church speak about forest fires. He explained that a long time ago, forest fires just happened, and after a time, man took it upon himself to try and make it so that they did not happen. A plan was made, a public relations campaign was devised (Smokey the Bear anyone?) and every school child over the age of five knew that "Only YOU can prevent Forest Fires". After all, fire is BAD. It kills adorable little bunnies and wrecks majestic trees and scares us.

But, my pastor continued, they found that not all of the forest was harmed by the fire. In fact, some species depended on the high heat to germinate. Dead underbrush never gets cleared without a forest fire. Diseased wood and leaves are often cleared out by fire. And worst of all, because forest fires were being eradicated, when a fire couldn't be put out, it was usually devestating to the area, burning up years of underbrush and dead wood.

So, a practice called "prescribed burning" was put into effect. A controlled, beneficial fire was allowed to rage in a pre-determined area, in a sense, to ensure its future.

Have you ever found that some "cleaning out" was necessary? What about a vicious, searing change in policy? Has THAT ever been needed? Using "prescribed burning" as a business strategy might make very much sense. Why?

-As we heard in President Obama's inauguration speech, change is coming and the old ways of doing things will no longer work. For years, people have pushed for change, wanted change, talked about changed, written about change, made webinars about change but only a few actually changed. Now it's not an option. We're backed up the edge of the cliff now and must figure out how to fly.

-People are begging for it. No one wants to lose a job, be forced to work harder to learn a new skill or deal with new training, but when leadership says: "This is not optional, " respectfully, people often comply and even appreciate the chance to grow and learn.

-Not everything has to go. The redwoods survived years of forest fires, growing taller and stronger after every scorch. So to will tried and true business imperative survive a "prescribed burning" or a drastic change. If your process if working but your marketing strategy stink, don't change everything, change your marketing. Keeping the ideals that make your company unique can make other changes easier to bear.

-Change allows new things to grow. I can't tell you the amount of good ideas I have seen fall by the wayside; how many bright young stars squelched; new processes not given time to produce results, because there was too much underbrush for them to ever see the light of day. When dead wood and underbrush is cleared away (and I not talking solely about people, this analogy carries over to outdated policies, silly rules, I could even make a case for outdated environment) then new ideas can grow unhindered.

Where can you use prescribed burning in your company? Career search? Life?

Props to Josh Ballard, who gave this great sermon and to WayPoint Church.