Picture an upright wood barrel. The staves of a barrel are the flat, wooden sticks that form the barrel’s body. Staves is the plural of “staff”.

The goal of your barrel is to hold as much water as possible. 

Your staves are uneven in height. That means that the amount of water you can hold is limited to the shortest staves.

Let’s say that your barrel only needs eight staves. Ideally, all eight staves would be the same height. Yours are not.

Neither are mine.

Now consider those staves to represent the eight (or ten or twelve or whatever) essential areas of your business (or division) that, if healthy, release all the potential you need for the results you want. 

Let’s read that again: “...that, if healthy, release all the potential you need.”

Example areas:

Leadership development

Employee engagement

Product optimization

Budget

Management and operations

Objectives and Key Results

Key performance indicators

Team function (as opposed to dysfunction)

Clarity of vision, mission and values

Strategic planning and implementation

Communication 

Collaboration

Culture

Innovation

Alignment to business

Organizational charting

The list goes on. 

The point is this: Healthy things grow.

Natural Business Growth

An ancient verse says “All by itself, the soil produces grain -  first the blade, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” 

The key is “all by itself.” If X is healthy, Y happens. Natural development.

Leaders don’t force.

Forced business growth is exhausting. Natural business growth is exhilarating. Consider the difference between walking into a store that sells artificial flowers vs. walking through The Butchart Gardens. I prefer to smell natural flowers.

You do need to identify the essential areas of health, the low staves, and the ways in which to raise those staves from dysfunction to health. 

In a number of my conversations with CIOs, the same theme is emerging. They are working on good projects, but the development is stunted. The reason growth is stunted is because they are kind of doing things right and often not focusing on doing the right things. 

Since staves is plural for staff, you could say that your business suffers from staff-infection.

Natural business growth starts with the right things - creating the environment in which healthy things grow. Assessment, coaching, training and support is then directed to the objectives and results that restore health.

At CIO Mastermind, we call it the ACTS of natural business growth.. 

Organic Is More Than A Section In Your Grocery Store

When you step back and think about most of the better business books you have read, they are calling you to health, and they are usually focused on a single aspect of health. They know that business growth is an outcome of healthy priorities. 

What are your staves? 

What are the essential areas for your business that must be healthy for growth to occur naturally?

You can identify these on your own, of course. And I’m happy to assis. We have a whole process of helping you define your vital areas, and then bring the right types of assessment, coaching, training and support into your process (and equip you on how to keep the process going yourself).

Know the right staves and you know the right focus. Get the health right, and you get the growth right.

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