🌳 This Ginkgo is getting into the spirit of autumn!

In a few weeks all the bright yellow leaves will be gone - a fast, dramatic shift from green to gold to bare branches.

Other trees are different. Some shift in bursts at this time of the year - flashes of red and orange, like Maples.

Some barely change at all - they pretty much stay green, like Pine.

Some change slowly, layer by layer - a mixture of many colours, like Oaks.

Differences between trees seem most stark in autumn.

Change in teams happens the same way.

Some move fast - change is visible, decisive, almost sudden, like Ginkgo.

For some change is subtle and hardly noticeable, like Pine.

But most evolve slowly - old habits loosen as new ways gradually emerge, like Oak.

I’ve also observed teams switch “species.” Seemingly solid Pines, with deeply rooted ways of working, suddenly transform into colourful Maples overnight! Amazing!

When I begin working with a team, I can’t predict which way it’s going to go. Are we talking Ginkgo, Maple, Pine, Oak… or something else?

I can’t force change or make it happen faster. After all, teams are complex adaptive systems, nested within other complex adaptive systems - by definition they are complicated and unpredictable.

But I can hold space for insight, help teams explore alternatives, let go of what’s no longer serving them, and embed what’s emerging in their systems.

If you’d like to talk about seasons, types of trees, or anything relating to teams and embedding team change, please get in touch. It's my passion 🌳.