Hi, this is Andy Bernstein. In Level 4, we’re going to explore leadership and the ecology of teams, but let’s start with a story. In the summer of 1910, over three million acres of the Rocky Mountains caught fire and burned uncontrollably. 

Once the fires were eventually put out, the U.S. Forest Service took action to prevent this from happening again. They hired and trained thousands of park rangers, and built hundreds of fire towers.

Over the next 50 years, one of the Forest Services’ highest priorities was suppressing fires. They even created an animal spokesperson — Smokey Bear — and gave him a catchphrase:  “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” (If you dont know what I’m talking about, ask your parents or grandparents.) 

As a result of these noble efforts, forest fires were dramatically reduced, and millions of trees were saved. Conservationists across the country celebrated. Until they saw the sequoias…

The giant sequoia is the most massive tree on Earth. It can grow to over 300 feet tall and live for more than 3,000 years. 

But in the 1960’s, ranger Dick Hartesveldt noticed a problem with the sequoias — they weren’t reproducing. And he soon realized why.

Sequoia seeds germinate after fire clears the soil around their trunks, and the heat forces their pine cones to open and release their seeds. Sequoias had evolved over millions of years to rely on fire. And the attempts to save them by suppressing fire were actually killing them.

Hartesveldt understood that fire didn’t disrupt nature — it was nature. If the Forest Service continued to see fire as the enemy, the sequoias would become extinct. So the forest service changed their policies to make fire an integral part of forest management. 

They also changed Smokey Bear’s message: “Only you can prevent forest fires” became “Only you can prevent wildfires.” They realized that all fires weren’t bad. It was the high-intensity wildfires set by careless visitors that needed to stop. A well-managed low-intensity fire should not be prevented — in fact, the world’s greatest trees depend on it. Sequoias needed people to take a larger view of ecology, interdependence, and the hidden dynamics of growth. 

And it turns out the same thing is true for leadership and teams.

Meet me in the next lesson, and I’ll tell you what I mean.