The Myth of the Low-Hanging Fruit

We all want RESULTS.

We’re judged based on RESULTS.

Our entire identity is built on RESULTS. And so is our reputation. 

We live in a society that values results so much that when I reached a period of my professional life when I couldn’t get those elusive results, I believed I had no VALUE.  

Strange how that works. We wouldn’t say it out loud, but the addiction to results and validation is as real as any other. It changes our chemistry, and it ‘back-feeds’ into our beliefs. 

That’s what makes me wonder if this concept of ‘low-hanging fruit’ isn’t part of the problem.  

The Desire for Results is primal

The desire for results fires the neurons of aggression, urgency and triggers our need for comparison. It brings out the best and the worst in us. It conjures in us a drive contending with all primal instincts. Our need for survival can often be mistakenly transferred to this means of measure in such a way it defines us and our ‘right’ to have a story worth telling.  

Growing up in business, I’ve heard it said hundreds of times. Look for the low-hanging fruit. Are you familiar with that phrase? In other words, look for the thing you can harvest (get results from) that will give you the most immediate benefit for the least amount of work. 

·        Defer costs as long as you can.

·        Get the most out of your people and your customers that you can.

·        Liquidate assets, including highly paid people you may not need right now.

Makes sense, right? 

Maybe. There certainly are times we’ve already done the work and failed to harvest some apparent low-hanging fruit, but more often that concept is designed to set our sights on short-term results rather than playing the long game of building great companies and cultures.

Think about it.

How do we measure value? What is the accepted standard for the stock markets and corporate raiders who buy underperforming businesses and hyper-stimulate them? Do we base our success on quarterly results? Will that be our legacy, or is it a myth? It may not be this simple, but it’s clear that the latest research on the culture of business and legacy is shifting. I believe it’s turning in the right direction.  

Can clicks create Legacy?

We are a push-button society that has figured out how to measure everything with clicks. We use comparative analysis primarily based on social media. We are happy or sad, based on the moment, even if we don’t comprehend the momentum. 

“Circumstances Lie” is my latest book dealing with this circumstantially based set of beliefs. Circumstantial evidence seeks to identify much of this purported low-hanging fruit, in the same way it taints the view of your entire harvest of life’s results.

Circumstantial evidence is like the man who fell from the Empire State building. As he sailed past the 50th floor he was heard to say, “so far, so good.”  

Is low-hanging fruit available?  Yes.

Is it always the right time to harvest? That’s the question for the long-term performer.  

2X – 10X – 100X ?  

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against short-term gains. There’s a time to take back your capital or play with the house’s money. I get that. 

I suppose it can also be argued that ‘pruning’ the tree often increases results later. That’s definitely a consideration.  

Here’s my point. 

When things reach the proper time for harvest, the gains are optimal, but that takes patience. It takes investment, whether physically, mentally, relationally, in our faith or finances. It takes care and intent. You don’t have assurances, locked in gains or the champagne of low-hanging fruit taking.  

Long term Legacy is about the harvest of your life, not just your year. Factor that into the evaluation of that inviting, low-hanging fruit. It’s about living well while you’re doing well. About investments that were never designed to be popcorn, rather acorns that grow into massive, fruit-bearing trees themselves. 

I’ve lived long enough to say things like this. Have you? 

·        I wish I’d never sold that car/house/business.

·        I wish I’d known what I know now.

·        I wish I’d paid more attention to them.

·        I wish I’d learned which things to say NO to sooner.

·        I wish I’d learned to see tomorrow’s potential beyond today’s pain.

Unless we have a clear Definition of Success, it’s challenging to know when it’s time to plant seed or invest in the future. It’s tempting to imagine we’ve wasted time when we’re not getting measurable results. Perhaps it depends on when you want to measure those results and how you’ve weighted the impact of those results on the 5 Lies that Circumstances tell us.  

Fruit comes primarily in 5 forms:

·        Our bodies

·        Our minds

·        Our relationships

·        Our faith

·        Our finances

If you want to be sure you only harvest the low-hanging fruit when it’s time, here are a few questions I believe bridge the span of life and organizational growth.  

·        Do the results control my identity or does my identity dictate the results?  If you’re confident about your identity and your purpose, you can be clear about your long term Definition of Success. That’s the first step in timing the harvest. 

·        Are these immediate results compensating for perceived limitations or scarcity I must overcome, or are they fueled by the overflow of a confident vision of the future?

·        Have I chosen the right allies and invested in the right team and will taking this low-hanging fruit impact that in any way? 

·        Whose approval am I looking for by taking this low-hanging fruit? My current self or my future self? 

·        How will this impact the fruit I want in evidence for a life well lived? 

There is a time for everything. A time to live and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to reap. A time to celebrate and a time to mourn. 

Pick your low hanging fruit when it’s fully ready, and there is plenty of fruit left ripening on the vine.  

Remember: Everything you have was already in existence long before you took responsibility for it. You will reap what others have planted, but satisfaction comes from being known as someone who planted generously and was patient for the harvest.  

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Greg is a business owner, speaker, podcaster, best-selling author and coach who helps people move past circumstance to calling, beyond brokenness to breakthrough. Greg Believes that "Circumstances Lie" about what's possible and that brokenness is the opportunity for Breakthrough in your life, your business and your people. 

Greg has been a business owner for more than 35 years, owning as many as 14 businesses at one time with almost a thousand employees. Greg has experienced great success and EPIC failure, including the loss of more than 50 million dollars in the 2008 Real Estate crisis and spending almost a year in prison.

Greg is the international Best-Selling author of

·        Broken – how being broken unlocked the greatest success of my life

·        Overcoming the 10 Common Fears all leaders face.

·        The Breakthrough – a leadership fable breaking through the 4 barriers that hold teams back

·        A Journey of Significance – the Story of Albert Diepeveen – a successful leader, mentor and friend who taught him to move from Success to Significance. 

… and the exciting release of his 5th book, titled “Circumstances Lie”, ‘The 5 Lies about defining moments, vulnerability, and the power of your story to change the world.’

Greg is a keynote speaker in businesses and churches, hosts the No Head-Trash Podcast and a Facebook group called, “The No Head Trash Nation” Greg also leads The Practice Zone Mastermind, a small group forum where leaders connect as trusted advisors to grow in every area of life and leadership.