To every thing there is a season

Category: Editorial

Many years ago I was fortunate to own a small farm. It had been a long term ambition and fitted with my belief in wholeness and congruence – a fit with the cycles of nature.

Whether it was vegetables or livestock, I was involved in the complete life cycle from planting or birth, through care and maintenance to death, harvesting, cooking and eating. All within the natural cycle of the seasons and responding to the weather, both good and bad. One of the things it taught me was a form of self sufficiency/personal responsibility. If the cow's teats were cracked or the water supply froze in the night, I had to deal with it; the cow had to be milked and the animals had to drink. I was the steward responsible for the well being of the animals, and for dealing with slugs and weeds in the vegetable garden.

With patience over several years I improved the quality of the soil and thus of the grassland, and upgraded the buildings.

This relationship of supporting growth and receiving reward was very much in parallel with what I do now as an executive coach and consultant. One of the things that struck me during the period of privatisations of British nationalised industries was that there was a natural cycle of change. Politicians and the media expected rapid results, but I observed a consistent process from an initial immature celebration of freedom to a gradual understanding and acceptance of what was really required for success; that reaping benefits requires sowing seeds and continued care and attention. Maybe some seven years for completion. Similar cycles apply in countries that have been released from dictatorships.

In my own business dealings I have noticed a natural pace of gestation and change. I suffer from enthusiasm and am keen to achieve results. But repeatedly things have taken as long as others have forecast, in spite of my efforts to achieve them in the logical fastest time.

There is a famous text in the bible that summarises this: chapter three (verses 1-8) of Ecclesiastes.

1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:



2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;



3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;



4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;



5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;



6. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;



7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;



8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

It has been turned into a song by Pete Seeger – Turn, turn, turn – and popularised by The Byrds.

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