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Why Are We Here?
By Paul Harter, ISA Executive Director
A recent commercial on U.S. television shows the CEO of a company walking
into a meeting room full of people. He takes his seat at the head of the
table and asks the group assembled around it, “Why are we here?”
Before they can answer, he begins to fire a barrage of questions at them
relating to computer problems. As each question is responded to with,
“No, we’ve fixed that,” he becomes more and more confused.
Finally he asks, “Then why are we here?” Someone at the table
replies, “Shirts.” To his obviously increased confusion, the
speaker adds, “We’re a shirts company. We make shirts.”
This commercial is a great example of where we often find ourselves. It
is so easy to become caught up in each day’s challenges that we often
forget to consider a greater purpose. When each challenge can lead you
in a variety of directions, it becomes imperative that you take the time
to reflect on your overall objectives.
I recently had the opportunity to watch a tree crew work on a storm-damage
cleanup. The crew leader walked up to each tree and instructed a crew
member to install a climbing line and get up in the tree. Each crew member
diligently responded. Soon each tree had a climber in it. Only then was
the question raised of what they were to accomplish in each tree. As you
can imagine, what followed was a less-than efficient approach to removing
the hazards and cleaning up the site.
What is true for individuals is true for organizations. After all, companies
have no life apart from the people who run them and the people whom they
serve. ISA is no different. Before we act, we must consider our overall
objectives, the tools we have to work with, and the place where we will
be working. As our work progresses, we must periodically step back and
consider whether our overall objectives are being achieved.
Over the past three years, we’ve worked hard on tactical issues.
We’ve cleaned up our business and faced our financial challenges.
We’ve addressed governance challenges brought on by our continued
growth. We’ve worked hard to improve service. As these efforts have
come to bear fruit, it’s now time to ask, “Why are we here?”
The answer to this question is no farther away than ISA’s mission
statement. Our mission reads, “Through research, technology, and
education promote the professional practice of arboriculture and foster
a greater public awareness of the benefits of trees.” ISA’s
international Board of Directors, chapters, professional affiliations,
and professional staff are now in a position to turn full energy toward
this mission. As I write this, we are nearly through our budgeting process
for the upcoming fiscal year. This budget shows increasing emphasis on
returning to the mission.
The upcoming fiscal year will see an emphasis placed on enhancing ISA’s
worldwide network of arboricultural professionals. We’ll be introducing
new tools to promote public awareness. We’ll be reinvesting in our
historic purpose of bringing researchers and practitioners together. We’ll
be putting a new and long overdue emphasis on supporting students of our
profession.
When your dues notice comes asking you to reinvest in ISA for another
year, remember that your hard-earned money is going toward much more than
a couple of magazine subscriptions. Your investment in this Society is
supporting professionalism, research, education, outreach, and awareness.
Your investment in ISA is moving our mission forward.
To those of you who have donated your personal time to ISA, let me say
a special “thank you.” As our everyday lives become faster-paced
and more challenging, time is becoming our most precious commodity. Without
the individuals willing to give of this precious resource, ISA would struggle
just to exist. The countless thousands of volunteers who give so many
hours to this Society are making an investment well beyond the monetary
contribution of their annual dues.
Whether you’ve committed money, time, or both to this Society, you
deserve an answer to the question, “Why are we here?” The answer
is, “Trees.” Challenge us to remember.
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International Society of Arboriculture
