One of the many attributes a superintendent must have in his/her tool kit is the ability to adapt to change. Be it the weather, a shift in budget allocations, staff turnover or even just keeping up with recent technology, course managers and superintendents must learn the swivel art of adaptation to have a successful career in our industry. 

For the sake of this post, I would like to look at the idea of adaptation through an alternate lens.

The invitation here is to bring to mind that green on your property. You know the one. It's tucked back in a far corner of the course. The playing surface is surrounded by trees and thick underbrush. It only manages to glimpse the daily allotment of sunlight for a third as much as its siblings receive. It suffers far more maladies than the rest of the putting surfaces and the turf canopy thins out if you even look at it the wrong way. This green has always been the black sheep of the flock and it's just the way it is. 

Now think of the situation in terms of adaptation. On this green, the turf adapts to the lack of sunlight and air movement by doing what it can. Its fundamental physiology changes over time due the difficult conditions. Negative stress responses are far more common, and the symptoms experienced are far worse than other greens because internally the plants are simply not supported enough to be well. In the grand scheme of things, it just suffers more. 

Then, out of nowhere, there is a shift. . . . Choices appear where there once appeared to be no options. Your view perspective opens and the changes that are necessary to remedy the problems no longer seem so daunting.

As a turf manager, you also must adapt to this difficult growing environment. You adjust mowing heights, apply various products to stave off the inevitable next illness that is lurking around the corner, and continually adjust your cultural practices to keep the green alive during the worst of the season. You are convinced that there is not much else to be done, and these practices become normalized over time. 

Then, out of nowhere, there is a shift. You learn something in a seminar; there might be a visit from an agronomist or consulting architect; or it might even be as simple as a suggestion from another trusted superintendent that changes your thought process completely. Choices appear where there once appeared to be no options. Your view perspective opens and the changes that are necessary to remedy the problems no longer seem so daunting. 

After consulting with the greens committee, the process of removing trees and clearing the underbrush begins. You might address some underlying issues or even make some more dramatic alterations to improve drainage and functionality. And slowly, over time something magical happens — the green improves. The sunlight and air flow the green so sorely lacked are now plentiful. The disease pressure is reduced and all the extra cultural practices that were previously employed have become redundant. The turf seems, well, happier. Its resilience improves and the playability and quality are noticeably different. You stand back, look at the improvements, and think, "why did I wait so long to make these changes?"

If we can embrace this new, wider perspective, change naturally follows. We come to realize that no problem is insurmountable and given time, things can become clearer. 

Now let us flip the script a little bit. Recall something in your own life that for whatever reason has caused you internal difficulty. It might be a past trauma, an old physical injury or simply a pattern in your life that has always been a problem. It keeps popping up in your life and causing both you and those around you to suffer. And more importantly, you have adapted to this difficulty; so much so that it is hard to remember a time in your life where it was not present. 

Over the years, you might have tried all sorts of ways to remedy this issue. You might have sought out the help of a professional but never felt you got the answers you needed. You might have even employed alternate practices hoping that this one would be the change maker. Or even in more extreme situations, you might have turned to self-medicating to numb or escape the pain. 

But then, the shift occurs. You find the doctor or therapist that finally unlocks the root cause of the problem. You might receive an unexpected kindness from a trusted friend or family member that opens a door that you did not even know existed. Your perspective changes and suddenly where once there was confusion now there is clarity. The solutions to the problem are right in front of you and now things seem so simple. You step back, look at the shift in your life, and think to yourself, "why did it take so long?"

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
— Max Plank 

In life, as in greenkeeping, difficult issues resolve themselves when the time is right. There is an old adage that states "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear." It might seem simple when we finally take the steps to remedy the situation, but it is never the case. You had to go through the pain and suffering to get to the other side of it all.

Once you are beyond the suffering and difficulty, there is a common element that affects both greens and people — space. When you open up to an alternate path, space magically appears before us. What once seemed narrow and restricted is now flexible and spacious.

If we can embrace this new, wider perspective, change naturally follows. We come to realize that no problem is insurmountable and given time, things can become clearer.  

Thanks for reading.