The Hidden Cost of Doing Things Right

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all," says Mark Pyrah, President and Director of Client Care at PEAK Landscape. This powerful principle cuts to the heart of a critical business challenge: 

Are we doing the right things first, or just doing things right?

Too often, landscape companies find themselves trapped in cycles of efficient ineffectiveness—working incredibly hard on tasks that don't move the needle, optimizing processes that shouldn't exist, and sacrificing long-term success for short-term urgency.

The Efficiency Trap

Many landscape teams fall into familiar patterns that feel productive but lack real impact:

• Working hard on the wrong priorities while critical issues go unaddressed

• Optimizing processes that weren't worth keeping in the first place

• Reacting to urgent demands instead of being proactive about what matters most

• Focusing on individual efficiency rather than overall system effectiveness

Real-World Impact: When Efficiency Isn't Enough

Consider a maintenance crew that efficiently follows its established route, completing all tasks on schedule. Everything appears to be running smoothly—until the property manager calls with complaints about areas that look neglected.

The crew was being efficient, completing their work in the same sequence every time. But they weren't being effective because they failed to prioritize the most visible areas that directly impact client satisfaction. They were doing things right, but not doing the right things first.

This scenario plays out across the industry: irrigation technicians who check for broken heads but overlook coverage issues, teams who follow procedures without considering strategic impact, and operations that measure activity rather than outcomes.

Building the Foundation for Effectiveness

True effectiveness starts with establishing the right foundation—what Pyrah calls "root before shoot." Just as a tree needs strong roots before it can support healthy growth, your operations need solid foundational systems before they can scale successfully.

The Four Pillars of Effective Operations:

1. Alignment on Strategy, Purpose, and Scope

   • Establish what truly matters most at any given time

   • Ensure everyone understands the primary objective

2. Clear Goals and Responsibilities

   • Define who owns what from start to finish

   • Eliminate overlaps and gaps in accountability

3. Continuous Feedback and Adaptation

   • Treat processes as living documents, not set-in-stone procedures

   • Regularly assess and adjust based on results

4. Clear, Ordered, and Repeatable Systems

   • Document step-by-step instructions for consistent execution

   • Ensure tasks are performed safely and to established standards

The Power of Focus

"People who try to push many goals at once usually wind up doing a mediocre job in all of them," Pyrah notes, citing The 4 Disciplines of Execution. "You can ignore the principle of focus, but it won't ignore you."

The most successful landscape companies understand that there has to be one goal that's more important than anything else at any given time. Like air traffic control managing multiple aircraft, you must identify which "plane" needs to land first before directing attention to others.

Identifying High-Impact Performance Drivers

Before optimizing any process, evaluate it through these strategic lenses:

• Strategic Impact: Does it directly advance your key business objectives?

• Customer Value: Does it improve the client's experience or measurable results?

• Measurability: Can you track success with clear, actionable metrics?

• Implementation Ease: How quickly and smoothly can this be executed?

Use this framework to filter every initiative before investing time and resources in optimization.

The Decision Matrix Approach

Create an effectiveness decision matrix that categorizes initiatives by effort required and impact delivered:

• Low Effort, High Impact: Priority initiatives that deliver maximum return

• High Effort, High Impact: Strategic investments worth the resource commitment

• Low Effort, Low Impact: Activities to minimize or eliminate

• High Effort, Low Impact: Projects to avoid entirely

This systematic approach ensures your team focuses energy on activities that truly move your business forward.

From Reactive to Proactive

The shift from efficiency to effectiveness requires moving from reactive problem-solving to proactive strategic thinking. Instead of asking "How can we do this faster?" start with "Should we be doing this at all?"

When alignment exists across your organization—from executive leadership to field crews—you create the conditions for sustainable growth and exceptional performance. Without alignment, even the most efficient teams will struggle to deliver meaningful results.

Implementation Strategy

Start by asking these fundamental questions about any process or initiative:

• What is truly the most important objective right now?

• Who is this process serving and under what conditions?

• What is the desired end result we're trying to achieve?

• How will we measure success with leading indicators, not just lag measures?

The landscape industry demands both efficiency and effectiveness, but effectiveness must come first. By ensuring your team is hyper-focused on what truly matters, you set the stage for sustainable performance improvement and lasting competitive advantage.