This week, I’m writing from Edisto Beach, SC—a place my family visits every year. It’s always striking how different this coastal ecosystem is from the soil and climate back home. The vegetation, the animals, even the rhythm of life is different. And every time I’m here, I find myself thinking: What would it be like to grow vegetables here?
The answer starts with understanding your environment. What grows well here? What role could I play in this local ecosystem that complements, rather than conflicts with, what nature is already doing?
On Edisto, cotton plantations and tomatoes thrive—not just by accident, but because they align with the region’s sandy soil, heat, and humidity. The tomatoes, in particular, have a flavor shaped by this unique climate. Trying to grow lettuce here year-round? That’s a losing battle. But a hearty tomato? Now that has potential.
That same lesson applies to business.
At ThreeWill, we often talk about “meeting clients where they are.” That means taking time to understand their soil and climate—their industry, their culture, their internal systems. If we don’t, we risk offering solutions that sound great on paper but don’t thrive in the real world of our clients.
Just like a gardener needs to respect the seasons and soil, we need to respect our clients’ ecosystems. That’s why we’ve made an intentional shift to focus on specific industries. When we know the region and soil of an industry—how decisions are made, how work gets done, what compliance and productivity really mean—we can design solutions that take root.
Whether you’re farming or building software solutions, the takeaway is the same: Don’t fight the ecosystem. Understand it. Work with it. Grow something meaningful.
This post first appeared on June 13, 2025 in Sowing Success, my weekly LinkedIn newsletter on leadership and organic farming. Read the original on LinkedIn.
