I love this quote: “Companies are actually living organisms, not machines. We keep bringing in mechanics, when what we need are gardeners.” ~ Peter Senge
I believe that the gardener is also the person who is considered a creative.
Gardeners plant. Creatives plant ideas. Creatives plant innovation, concepts, and solutions. The gardener tends to that which they have planted. They water, feed, and pull the weeds that could strangle the things that are planted. Gardeners measure the health of what they have planted and they do everything necessary to make sure it grows. Gardeners know the grounds. They know the soil, how to manage the sunlight, shadows, and seasons. Gardeners know precisely the right time to start harvesting their crops. Once the idea has grown and is ready, it is the job of the gardener to harvest and convert the harvested into something that can be consumed. The creative does all these same function, only we do them in our organizations around ideas.
Mechanics can identify problems. They are able to repair what they can diagnose. They understand the mechanics, obviously, but they also only can think and process based on the old engine and the confines of of how that engine works. Mechanics are willing to get dirty and work hard, but they are not going to grow anything new. Mechanics are only going to repair the old stuff that is broken.
As a creative culture, it is important we are embracing the opportunity to grow new things. Growing new things takes a lot of hard work. Gardening requires getting up early, getting very dirty, and working really hard. Gardening happens in and out of season. Being creative also is the same.
Organizations have been full of mechanics. In our new economy, I believe businesses and churches are looking for gardeners. As church leaders are we teaching people how to farm or how to be mechanics? Becoming the best gardener we can be will help us lead organizations into areas mechanics never could imagine visiting.
Are you being a gardener or a mechanic?