Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily

Motivational Sunday

For all of a flower’s remarkable and seemingly effortless beauty, nothing is delivered without work.  A flower is a reflection of a biological machine that converts nutrients, water and sunlight into the materials that its cells consume to grow, flower and finally seed.  The flower is remarkable in its beauty, but it is still a reflection of work whose productivity can be calculated (output per unit of effort).  But is knowing productivity of the plant enough to understand the value that a flower produces?

Beauty, like value, is contextual. Everyone has an opinion about what construes value, based on his or her specific biases and culture. No one single definition of value exists, therefore we need to find our constituency or tribe for whom we can deliver value.

Value, like flowers, is in the eye of the beholder.  Whether your audience is bees, ants or horticulturists, there is flower meets their specific needs. The simple okra flower combines great beauty and then yields great utility – an okra pod.  While a okra flower is different than a tiger lily, the value is dependent on whether the goal is to fill a vase or to cook gumbo.