“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2 NKJV).
Recently I wrote about the emotional aspects of dealing with an obdurate problem in my life, letting off a little steam in the process. Allowing emotions to surface and breathe is important when we are struck by a significant problem, but it is also important to take action to solve the problem.
Generally lying at the root of most business problems is scarcity of vital resources: time, money, employees, knowledge or know-how, technology, customers, access to markets and channels of distribution, and capital assets and equipment, can be scarce just when they are most needed. When scarcity of resources reaches a critical level that cannot be solved in a reasonable way, the business is in danger.
The typical business response to critical scarcity of resources is as follows: the leader (1) assesses the implications, (2) reassigns priorities, (3) resets expectations to those needing to know, (4) establishes new goals and objectives in light of the resource deficit, (5) communicates the new direction to others, and (6) pursues the new objectives including obtaining the resources needed to accomplish them.
This hierarchy of activities will continue to be followed in a loop for each successive situation where resources either remain inadequate or unavailable to accomplish the new goal. At some point in time, the leader will either declare victory or surrender—and both carry a price-tag. Victory exhausts much of the energy and resources of the business; it will be left fragile and vulnerable. Surrender costs all.
During a business life-cycle, times of harvesting and pruning occur, just as they do in life. Harvesting is a word that implies success—reaping a reward for hard work. Pruning is not necessarily a bad thing, but the word does not connote the same emotional response as harvesting. When faced with an obdurate problem and critical scarcity of resources, pruning is often a tactic employed—you can see where it might be an outcome of any of the steps outlined above.
Biblically there are some important things to consider as you approach the idea of pruning the business.
First, as Christians we serve the Lord in everything we do and are open and willing to hear His call for change in our lives. We do not cling to things. We cling to Jesus.
Second, success can become an idol, alienating us from God’s will for our lives. Sometimes we will be reluctant to let go of things God is prompting us to change in some way. God uses pruning for His own purposes, and sometimes His purpose is to discipline us in order that we draw nearer to Him.
Third, pruning the business may provide the means to share the blessings that God has provided. “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor” is how this idea is often expressed.
Fourth, contemplating pruning or harvesting different aspects of our work helps us to avoid falling into complacency and stagnating. Sometimes, when things are going well, we tend to want them to stay that way for a long while. Complacency is not godly and opens ourselves to danger. Consideration of pruning certain aspects of our business or harvesting others opens us to the possibility of other work and defends against complacency.
Fifth, sometimes our own mortality is the scarce resource. Awareness of our mortality will help us identify and groom successors. Moses groomed Joshua. Paul groomed Timothy and Titus. Jesus groomed the disciples. Since we will all die, the only time to really influence what will be done with accumulated wealth and knowledge is to do it now.
Sixth, there is a risk in humans to associate too much of ourselves in what we do at work; we self-identify with our work. Accordingly, the thought of pruning the business may be frightening to consider. God does not want you to become what you do, He wants you to become like Jesus, and fear has no place in the process.
Finally, when leaders tackle an obdurate problem and make choices to prune certain aspects of the business, the outcome is uncertain. Somewhere down the road at the end of the series of steps being taken is either victory or surrender. A distinctively Christian business leader, however, knows that God’s hand is involved in the process and God is aware of the conclusion before us. It is comforting to remember God’s pruning is always for our good, of this there’s no doubt.