Yesterday, I was walking with a friend and we were talking about a project I have been working on. During the course of our conversation, my friend used an expression to describe the strategy I was using to attack the project.
I was unfamiliar with the expression he used, but it captured the very essence of what I was doing and I immediately fell in love with it.
The project included a series of tasks—mini-projects within the larger project. I was struggling with how to handle the most challenging tasks, so I started completing the easier tasks first, even though they were out of sequence with the project’s design.
My friend said, “Oh, you are picking the low hanging fruit first.”
The low hanging fruit.
The beauty of having friends—teammates—who come from different backgrounds is that you get to broaden your awareness by being exposed to new concepts and new terminology. That was certainly the case in this situation.
Before I go any further, let me just state that I concede my ignorance. “Low hanging fruit” is actually a very common expression, particularly in the business world. I just happened to be unfamiliar with it.
I Googled it when I got back to my office and became humbled to learn of my naivety. So…if you’re laughing at my ignorance, know that I am now laughing too.
If, however, the expression happens to be new to you, as it was for me, allow me to briefly elaborate.
The low hanging fruit is often used to describe the process of tackling the tasks that require the least amount of effort first. It’s an analogy derived from the process of literally picking the more easily accessible fruit from the lowest hanging branches of the tree, instead of the riper and more appealing fruit from the top of the tree, which require more effort.
Sales and marketing folks use it in reference to going after customers who will be most likely to buy what they are selling, as opposed to the more challenging ones.
Politicians are frequently said to be targeting the low hanging fruit when they take on less controversial topics during their time in office.
Sometimes we can become overwhelmed by the amount of things we need to do to make an impact on our teams.
You have a teammate who is underperforming and needs motivated. You have a toxic teammate who is challenging the team’s direction and needs confronted. Somebody else is jealous of another teammate’s good fortune. Cliques are forming. Etc. Etc. Etc.
And somewhere in the midst of all of this, you need to be true to your own commitment to the team and invest in ways to improve your personal performance.
How do you go about accomplishing all of this?
There is no easy answer, but going after the low hanging fruit may be a good strategy for getting starting.
Make a few simple good teammate moves like giving an extra high five or an extra compliment. Go out of your way to speak to a teammate who hasn’t been getting much attention lately.
Those actions are the low hanging fruit in the good teammate business, and starting with them builds momentum.
Momentum is what leads to the force necessary to take on your most challenging tasks.
When you start with the low hanging fruit, your momentum eventually devours the entire tree and soon there is no fruit remaining. The same holds true for devouring the things that are keeping your team from being as successful as it could be.
Remember: Good teammates care. Good teammates share. Good teammates listen. Go be a good teammate.
