By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to enhance diversity in your thinking. Reading time: 3:56

It was a working lunch. The vice president saw a teaching opportunity as she held her fork like a conductor’s baton over his tomato and alfalfa sprouts salad.

“Take a good look at the alfalfa sprouts crawling in, around and through this salad,” the vice president told her staff. “Not very appetizing. No wonder that straw-like fiber is more often fed to dairy cows, beef cattle and horses.”

She paused, then looked around the conference table and allowed the conundrum to settle in and asked: “So why am I eating it?” The vice president noted she likes the crunchy texture that offsets the soft tomatoes which she called “a little diversity for the taste buds.” But even more pertinent, she said alfalfa is one of the most nourishing greens on earth. It has more percentage of protein than beef.

“And why?” the vice president wondered. Again she paused for a dramatic affect and then added: “Because its roots reach deeper into the soil than any other herb. At least 10-20 feet and even at times up to 100 feet. “

The vice president then sharpened her focus and her teaching point for her team on the significance of pairing this crunchy, deep-rooted, protein-rich alfalfa with a soft tomato. “It takes a deep root system to utilize all the different nutrients in the soil to produce a quality salad like this,” said the vice president. “What if we could extend our roots deeper throughout our organization to leverage even more and different nutrients to produce even greater quality work like this alfalfa and tomato salad?” Continue reading →