“Bloom Where You’re Planted”

This pithy expression is thrown around fairly commonly in the Air Force, especially amongst high performers like my wife and her fellow Officers in Executive Service. I say “pithy,” because it is most often heard or used in the context of acknowledging the challenges of bureaucratic inertia, outdated and inefficient processes, or other systemic obstacles that must simply be acknowledged rather than overcome. It’s used as a kind of a weird combination of “know your place,” “stay in your lane,” and “keep trying anyway.” However, underneath the soft smirk and resigned irony there is some real value in this phrase that shouldn’t be missed.

 First, let’s clarify the obvious intentions in this metaphor. Just like with Air Force assignments, most corporate positions are somewhat “assigned” as well in the sense that you have been put there by those above you and shall remain there until they decide otherwise. So, much like our flower, you have also been “planted” somewhere and are there for the foreseeable future. Obviously, this inability to easily uproot or even change pots can lead to feelings of frustration, resentment, and /or apathy – all very unhealthy and unhelpful places to dwell any longer than minimally necessary.

 From there the admonition is to instead seek ways of “blooming” as the better path forward for healthy and adaptive coping. Acknowledge the limitations, clarify the expectations and opportunities, and invest your energy in growing in the directions that are available instead of complaining about the ones that aren’t. Seems easy enough, right?

 But this challenge is precisely where so many people get hung up. They fundamentally don’t want to bloom where they are planted, and instead stay grounded in their strong preferences to be someplace else. They can’t get unrooted from their own emotional state, and that pool of dissatisfaction is what fuels their expressions. They then imagine, falsely in most cases, that complaining about their predicament is a good strategy for getting pulled out of it and moved over to where they’d rather be. Their main failure here is forgetting to factor in the view from their supervisors, managers, directors, or whoever else in a position to move them. Why would those above reward low-energy slouchers or high-energy whiners from the ranks below?

 And here is where the real message of Bloom where you’re planted can shine through. Which coworkers get promoted? Which colleagues get approached about the new position with greater responsibility and the pay that comes with it? Which associates get made into Partners? Not the whiners, the complainers, and the early-outers. Nope. The shiny apples get picked, and the bright, blooming flowers get noticed.

 So “Blooming where you’re planted” is more than just a dry expression of condolences. It’s in fact a great short-term strategy for better mental and physical health, and more importantly, the best long-term strategy for getting opportunities to uproot yourself and find a better place to truly grow. The fastest way out is up, so double your efforts in “blooming” if you want to moved up the hierarchy rather than out the door.