It’s autumn here in New Zealand and everywhere it seems our fauna is displaying those beautiful autumn hues of gold, amber, copper and crimson reds.

Trees use sunlight combined with water, chlorophyll and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and glucose.  This process, known as photosynthesis, gives the tree the food it needs to grow. During autumn the tree recognises the reduction in sunlight hours and stops photosynthesizing.  The leaves which were used to capture both sunlight and carbon dioxide are no longer useful and without the presence of chlorophyll they turn from greed to gold and eventually fall to the ground.

So maybe now, when the leaves are gold we should look at our own businesses and see if there are parts of our business that we are putting energy into that no longer serve us well.  Should we be directing our attention to other areas and leave some parts of our business to hibernate over the winter?

In business and in nature we are constantly moving through cycles.  We should identify when a product, service, process or market is no longer necessary to the survival and growth of our business and redirect our energy to the parts that sustain and support growth.

As we learn from the trees around us, it is important to be able to let go.  Let’s just make sure, in doing so, that we show our best colours in celebration of the successes we have enjoyed and the growth that lies ahead.