Do You Have a Cactus in Your Team?

What if a hobbyist gardener living in Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya picked a plant, the king of pricks, Cactus? What do you think, is it going to flourish where it rains frequently?

Yeah, Cactus is a plant, like other plants it requires water, air, and chlorophyll and sunlight to survive. But you can’t generalize.

Mediocre performance is, thus, lurking around the corner. The gardener, for his self-defense and to protect his ego, will label cactus as a mediocre plant. However, cactus won’t be responsible for anything. No. Nada.

What adds fuel to the fire, further, is plants of plum, peach, pear, apricot around that Cactus. Those plants are in a favorable environment. They find everything favorable — rain, wet soil, those winds. Hence they grow at a faster pace.

And the gardener compares the Cactus to those plants. He gets disappointed with the performance of the Cactus — this is understandable.

Now, as I think you are in a better position to answer this question, tell me who is responsible for the Cactus not growing like other plants? The Gardener, other plants or the Cactus itself?

I believe the gardener, to a great extent, is at fault here for his selection. He expected a plant to flourish in an unsuitable environment. Like you don’t spray petrol to control a fire, you can’t take a Cactus to a geographical reason unsuitable for it.

Likewise, if you are managing a team and a Cactus is your teammate or subordinate, you will label him as a low performer, weak member, less intelligent and the like.

I, however, think that a person who:

• is good at something
• has a sound mind
• understands things......

... can’t be a low performer or less intelligent or less capable. It could be that s/he is in the wrong environment which can’t help him flourish.

But is it right to blame a team manager only? That would be too harsh. Hence, no! You can’t blame him completely. You can to some extent, however. Cactus, to some extent, could be blamed as well.

No one is dumb or smart, it’s just that most of us on the Earth are confused. Many of us don’t know how to perform an audit on our emotions, motives, and purpose. Hence, many of us lack an understanding of what we want from our lives.

Many don’t understand themselves completely and hence, they opt for a profession which satisfies either their egos or egos of their parents. A lucky few find what fundamentally they have always wanted throughout these years– passion has to be discovered after all.

Only a few are lucky. Most of use, however, are unlucky and confused. This leads to mediocre results because you can’t fake love for a long time. Humans are earthlings and like other earthlings, humans also need a suitable or favorable environment to grow and to tap the best out of them.

Do you also have a Cactus on your team? Well if yes is your answer, have empathy for him/her, s/he is already struggling in a wrong environment and your harsh treatment could make things worse.

Remember: the Cactus, unlike other, is in an environment unfavorable for his growth. To top it off, he may be confused, and is in an internal struggle of why only me? And then he might be trying hard to fit in. And last but not least, it could be you who boarded him or pushed him to fit in.

Don’t kill the Cactus by keeping him in the same environment. Help him find his desert where it is designed to grow. Or create a mini desert for him. Be a great gardner!