PRUNE YOUR VINES

This year I’ve been a bit busier than last year.? Yes, I know that “busy” is a choice, and we will always make time for what is needed or wanted.? Up until a couple weeks ago, I had not made time to get out into the vineyard and cut back the vines from last year.? For the vine experts out there, yes, I know this is late in the season. I didn’t create the time to do it earlier as I usually do. With the late frost and snow, perhaps that will serve me well. Conversely, perhaps my late start will effect the growth and production this year. That remains to be seen.

I always look forward to my time in the vineyard - partly because it feels great to do something physical that delivers an instant result and partly because it just gives me some really quiet time outside alone.? It always feels like I’ve accomplished something when I stand back and look at a few rows of vines after pruning and cutting back.? I practice something called “cane pruning” which leaves two shoots from last years growth on the trunk of the vine, and I lay that shoot down on training wire.? During the process, I am cutting back hundreds of vines and spurs that grew in the previous season.? At first, it almost feels like you are hacking the vine to death given how much you are cutting out of now dead growth from the previous year. ?

The work of pruning the vines has become not just therapeutic for me.? Preparing the vineyard has become wildly symbolic.? The purpose of cutting out most of last years “growth” in the vineyard is for the purpose of promoting growth this year in the new season. Cutting out last years shoots allows for greater, stronger, new growth for the coming fruit season.? It promotes the growth of greater quantity fruit, healthier fruit, and even sweeter fruit. ?

As I hack back vines from the previous year, I can’t help but think about the correlations between my vineyard and my business:

Remove What Isn’t Serving You

Every year we need to dedicate time to identify what isn’t serving us, our goals, our mission, or our people. Once identified, the only thing left to do is cut it out. At first, cutting anything is scary. Those vines and shoots become part of who we are. We’ve become trained by the “additive” society in which we live - always thinking more must be better. But eliminating and removing things from our plate, our line of sight, our to do list, and our mindshare is incredible healthy. It allows us to focus on creating and delivering a better product. It allows us to produce higher quality fruit.

New Beginnings

Giving each vine a “new beginning” allows for new growth. I remember how shocked I was the first season I owned the vineyard. As the original owner taught me how to care for the vines, I couldn’t believe just how much I was supposed to cut away. I felt like I was killing the vine. But sure enough, in late spring I saw literally hundreds of new shoots begin to grow. They grew quickly. They grew back stronger. Starting anything with fresh eyes, a clean slate, and a seemingly new beginning is invigorating. It is why we like temporal landmarks when setting goals. We look forward to starting a new year, a new month, a new week, even a new day. Create new beginnings to generate energy. Create the new beginnings in your business.

Cutting Is Work

It’s normal to think that cutting things out of our business or life is easy. You just make the decision to no longer do something, to eliminate tasks or jobs, to stop certain activities. But cutting is never easy. We become attached to what we do. Our identity is tied up in what we do. Pruning a vineyard is strategic and time consuming. You look at each vine, deciding which shoot from the previous year looks the healthiest and will give you the best opportunity to grow good fruit in the upcoming season. I don’t walk through with an electric hedger or chain saw. I walk through with a pair of pruning shears. Each cut is a thought out decision. It takes me a few days to get the work done. Arbitrarily just cutting stuff out of your business because you know you should isn’t the right strategy. Go through each area of your business. Go through your schedule for each day of the week. Go through your email requests from the previous week. Strategically identify what is either serving your mission or pulling you away from it. You will know what to cut. Cutting is real work.

Start Pruning Before It’s Too Late

At times, we start cutting and pruning too late. We don’t take the time early in our year, our quarter, our month, our week to eliminate the distractions, cut out what is not serving us, remove anything not contributing to the mission. We become overcommitted to what we’ve built. We get caught up in our “sunk cost bias” and we are scared to cut and eliminate anything we’ve put time or energy into previously. Cutting back the vines that first year made me nervous. If I didn’t have someone there guiding me and teaching me how to do it, I probably would have left much more of last year’s growth on the vine. That would have led to less new growth and fruitage the following year. I have found the same to be true in business. Having a partner, a consultant, or a coach to help guide us with a fresh set of eyes on what to cut, what to get rid of, and what isn’t serving us is an important piece of pruning our business each year.?

A pruned vine delivers higher quality fruit.? The vine itself is able to deliver more water, energy, and attention to fewer shoots leading to a sweeter, better grape. Your business is no different. The fewer things that grab and pull at our attention, the higher quality output we will deliver in the areas of our life and business that matter most to us.?

Chris Suarez