The Growth of a Bamboo Tree - mycollaborativeteam.com (2024)

Written by My Collaborative Team co-founder,Carolann Mazza

I heard a man named Les Brown recite a parable that went something like this:

A Chinese bamboo tree takes five years to grow. It has to be watered and fertilized in the ground where it has been planted every day. It doesn’t break through the ground for five years. After five years, once it breaks through the ground, it will grow 90 feet tall in five weeks! The question is did the Chinese bamboo tree grow 90 feet tall in five weeks or in five years? Says Les Brown, the answer is obvious, it grows 90 feet tall in 5 years. If at any time that person stopped watering and fertilizing that tree, it would die in the ground. Some people do not have the patience to wait for the tree to grow, yet many people do.

Growing a Collaborative Practice is like that. It takes time to establish. It needs to be attended to every day: honing skills through training; joining local practice groups; joining the IACP; going to forums and conferences; marketing; networking with fellow Collaborative Practitioners; creating an elevator speech, publishing online and in paper, changing the approach to client consultations; helping clients envision possibilities that exist.

Many people have been watering and fertilizing their Collaborative seeds for many, many years; maybe without visible results. Then, suddenly, their Collaborative practices show signs of growth and the Practice blossoms.

Mrs. Mazza’s office is located at 12 SE 7th St #704, in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact Mrs. Mazza at (954) 527-4604 or carolann@cmazzalaw.com