Finding opportunities in lean times

The fall season is officially here. I know that because oak trees  in all their glory are dropping their acorn bounty quite literally everywhere.

Hundreds of acorns, at all times of day and night, bounce off the roof and scatter across the pavement.

They fall on my head.

The ground is littered with them, crunching underfoot at every turn.

It has all the feels of the abundance of a “mast year,” and it’s starting to get on my nerves. 😬

A mast year is when trees like oaks produce and drop an exceptionally large amount of acorns.

It’s an obvious boon for wildlife because they get the all-you-can-buffet meal, storing food for the leaner months ahead.

But a mast year is also a strategy to keep in check this same wildlife, who, by the way, are also predators of the trees.

Through a process called predator satiation, the animals feeding on the acorns, like squirrels, deer, chipmunks and the like, simply can’t eat it all. (I think we’ve all been there.)

This ensures that at least some of the acorns will ultimately be left behind to sprout new little trees and keep the legacy of autumn intact.

A mast year doesn’t happen every year, but about every two to five years.

After that year of abundance, what follows are a few lean years of scarcity. In these years, the lower supply of acorns serves to thin out the predator populations so that there are even less acorns consumed during a subsequent mast year.

Brilliant. And brutal.

The same pattern happens in our work lives.

There are times when opportunities and projects seem to fall from the sky, so many that you can’t keep up with them all. It feels like you’re overwhelmed — in a good way. There’s too much to fail, and the “predators” of scarcity can’t consume it all.

But then there are the lean years, the times when things slow down, and the abundance isn’t there.

These periods can feel really hard, like they’re designed to weed you out.

There is always opportunity in lean times. The scarcity forces you to reassess, pivot, refine, and adapt.

It pushes you to work smarter, focus on what matters most, and conserve energy for when the next boon hits. You also get a chance to hone the skills and connections you’ll need later.

These lean years are where resilience is built, where you winnow down what doesn’t serve you.

So while it may feel like a strategy designed to take you out, the truth is, the slow periods are just part of the cycle.