I wanted to rip out the little oak tree and take it home.
The little seedling was standing exactly where I had burried my dad’s remains a year before, next to the big oak tree he had chosen for his last resting place.
I should know. I was the one who had placed the urn into the ground.
And now I was staring at this tiny little new oak tree.
Thinking about death. About re-birth. About memories.
The little tree looked so fragile.
I wanted to rip it out, take it home.
Make it mine. Make it grow.
I sat there, on the ground, for a long long time. Staring at the little tree. Alone.
No one would have noticed. No one, but the tree.
Because I would have taken it from the wed and humid soil of central Germany to the baking heat of the mediterranean.
Chances are, my little oak tree wouln’t have survived the context switch.
So, instead, I showered it with rose petals I had brought for my dad, promising to check on it sometime next year.
This oak tree may (or may not - time will tell) thrive in its current location. It can’t be transplanted just because I fancy it.
My reality is better suited to Monstera’s and succulents.
And what does that have to do with company culture and remote operations?
Well, turns out you can’t just copy-paste someone else’s handbook and hope it works for you. You need to make sure it can be adapted to your reality.
For this to happen you first need to understand your own reality, and then choose or create the processes and procedures that co-create the vision you want to achieve. An oak tree isn’t better or worse than a pine tree or a palm tree. They do thrive under different circumstances though.
So what’s your reality? And how can you make sure your processes are aligned with that reality?
Download the Dimensions of Distributed Work if you aren’t sure.