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Why some plants remain as annuals while some have evolved as perennial? Was the nature created these ‘annual and perennial’ plants with prejudice and partiality or they have evolved with some specific reasons and purposes to be annual and perennial? The business people in the corporate must ask the above question in order to understand how they should create and follow their goals and map their vision either for the career or corporate.

Some plants while growing in nature, presumably would have asked the question of why they grow continuously and why they exist in nature. Although the purpose of existence, the plants would not have tried to understand from the philosophical/spiritual level but certainly they would have asked or have understood clearly from the biological perspective.

Every plant in nature grows when plenty of nutrients and water is available in the soil. Once they have grown to a level, then they start producing flower and fruit for the purpose of pro-creation. This is true for all flowering plants in general. The annual flowering plants after flowering and fruiting disappear from the scene. The next generation of these plants is essentially being continued by the seeds that are produced by them.

The annual plants, perhaps would have understood that they have been growing continuously and waiting for the right season to flower and fruit just to ensure their biological responsibility of producing the new generation before they retire from the scene. When they aggressively grow for the above purpose/reason, why they should they retire from nature, once the purpose is over? Why they should not remain for some more time and carry forward the same responsibility for some more time? Will that not offer greater advantage? This question only would have made the difference in some plants and thus the perennial plants would have evolved in nature.

Perhaps some annual plants would not have got the right season to flower and fruit due to some sudden change in the season or shortage of food availability etc. Possibly, these plants would have preferred to wait for the next season to complete their biological task. In the course of time, they would have decided not to leave the scene post fruiting and hence become ‘perennial plants’.

Most people in the corporate live with a goal or purpose to achieve. The achievements can be either joining a particular corporate (those who are searching a job/career change) or getting promotion, good increment, become GM or CEO etc. The steam to the effort, the passion, the perseverance etc., the people usually carry, are lost when they become something or the goal is achieved. But unfortunately, the accomplishment of the goal causes the passion and purpose to disappear and the people later become ‘vegetable’ in most corporate. It is not only true for the employees, but also for the corporate.

Why most people loose their energy and enthusiasm after achieving what they have been aspiring to achieve for many years. If they loose their energy and enthusiasm because they could not achieve the same can be understood, but why even after achieving the goal they loose the passion.

The corporate people should draw their inspiration from the perennial plants. Like these perennial plants, they should keep their goal and purpose growing and they should renew and achieve them time and again. Even if they meet failure in the way, the purpose orientation should continuously kindle the fire and make them achievers in the successive years.

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

Learn more from the following management books

1. Jungle wisdom for corporate management – lessons from the university of nature by Swami Sukhabodhananda and Dr S Ranganathan
2. Nature – The Entrepreneur by Dr S Ranganathan