Put Luis Marinho from Excelformação
With the holidays over, this year I did what I always do, picking wild blackberries, a practice integrated into the long walks I take with my children.
As is well known, this delicious fruit grows on brambles, which are composed of long, persistent, curved stems. Ugly and unruly bushes, Moreover, they are among the first plants to colonize wastelands and abandoned construction sites. As if that weren't enough, they are veritable war machines, given the sheer number of sharp points these invasive plants have.
This comes up in connection with explaining to you that Picking blackberries is an extraordinary exercise in management. that everyone should experience. Here are the top 5 reasons:
- Prejudices and being aware: Those who pass by quickly don't even notice them. In fact, the bush is so ugly that it doesn't invite the eye, much less imagine that delicious fruit grows there. And that's the first great lesson for management: we often make simplistic judgments about the appearance of things, we don't pay attention to detail, and thus we miss valuable opportunities.
- Preparation: Anyone thinking of leaving the beach in flip-flops, shorts, and short sleeves to go pick blackberries will have an unforgettable and painful experience with thorns piercing their body. Picking blackberries requires preparation in terms of footwear, clothing, and logistics for proper placement and transport during the walk.
- Risk analysis and assessment: It's crucial to observe carefully; some areas have excellent fruit, but right next to them you might find fruit of very poor quality. Careful analysis and deciding where to invest time and resources is fundamental. But risk assessment is also necessary, given the numerous obstacles the brambles present (I'm referring to the thorns, they are always the biggest complication). Progress during harvesting is a meticulous exercise requiring careful consideration. Sometimes we find fantastic fruit, but it's difficult to access. Picking it can result in an undesirable fall onto the brambles… and believe me, that's very painful. The main takeaway for management is that if you want those more distant fruits that carry significant risks, then come better prepared to pick them; otherwise, it could be too costly.
- Change of perspective: This point is one of the most curious. Throughout the harvest, we often think that there are no more opportunities for good fruit on that bush, but just a crouching down or a slight change in the angle of observation and we find new treasures to pick. It's an excellent lesson for managers. Opening your mind, receiving other perspectives and ideas, is fundamental to success and evolution.
- Focus: Picking blackberries triggers an automatic concentration process, which is usually activated as soon as the first thorn hits your hand or arm. If you try it, you'll find it's an excellent exercise for "clearing your mind"; you won't think about anything else, just what you're doing. In such a digitalized world, with an excess of information and so much difficulty in focusing, picking blackberries is something any manager should do.
Finally, and putting management lessons aside, I'll end by mentioning that blackberries, Besides being delicious, they are highly nutritious. and offer a range of benefits. A 100-gram serving of blackberries contains, on average, 43 calories, plus 351mg of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, 32mg of magnesium, and 25mg of vitamin K1. Blackberries are also packed with antioxidants, which help control free radicals that cause oxidative stress.
Delicious and powerful fruit.
Try picking them in nature instead of buying them at the supermarket. You'll gain in... health, lessons from management and also They save money..
