{"id":434,"date":"2017-12-02T21:36:01","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T21:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2017\/12\/02\/company-culture-a-lesson-from-albizia-trees%e2%80%8a-%e2%80%8awhat-happens-when-growth-is-tall-and-fast\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T10:33:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T17:33:39","slug":"company-culture-a-lesson-from-albizia-trees-what-happens-when-growth-is-tall-and-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2017\/12\/02\/company-culture-a-lesson-from-albizia-trees-what-happens-when-growth-is-tall-and-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"Company culture: a lesson from albizia trees\u200a\u2014\u200awhat happens when growth is \u201ctall and fast\u201d\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nature can teach us a lesson about company culture<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
A fallen albizia tree, photo courtesy Sen. Russell Ruderman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you hear that noise?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was in Hawaii last week walking along the Manoa Falls Trail, when our guide who was taking us through stopped us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all shook our heads, \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, well that\u2019s good,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we had, it would have been the sound of the albizia tree limb cracking. You have to be careful if you hear that noise, The albizia tree limb could be cracking above your head\u2026 and onto<\/em> your head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our guide went on to explain that albizias are one of the largest, fastest growing trees in the world. Yet the albizia tree has one big problem: Their wood is weak and brittle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, albizia trees often topple and split, causing damage to other plant life around them\u200a\u2014\u200aand to people. In Hawaii, albizia trees have become such a hazard, there are active efforts to preemptively remove them<\/a> before they get too big and dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tall and fast on the outside, weak and brittle on the inside. <\/strong>Looking at these trees, it made me think of businesses too. How the companies I\u2019ve seen that seem big, tall and fast-growing cripple and implode internally. Preoccupied with raising as much money as they can and spending as much money as they can, these companies operate without regard to profitability, how well they\u2019re solving a real problem, and if their team\u2019s culture is healthy. Without strong insides, they don\u2019t last long. And like albizia trees, they leave a wake of damage for others to clean up when they fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in nature, the things that grow too fast don\u2019t survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we grow, I get a lot of questions from folks about why we intentionally stay small and bootstrapped<\/a>. Why don\u2019t we go out and raise a bunch of money? Why we don\u2019t go hire a team of fifty people? Why not try to be big, tall, and fast-growing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To them, I say: Look at the albizia tree. There\u2019s a lesson from nature there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Never miss a post \u2013 get our latest leadership insights, as they’re released…<\/h3>\n\n