The Blue-Footed Booby has evolved to no longer build a nest in which to lay their eggs. The modern Booby lays eggs on the ground. Therefore, this ritual is decorative, it serves no practical purpose, it is a remnant of their evolutionary ancestor.So what has this got to do with corporate culture and corporate innovation? Quite a lot, I believe.
Experts believe birds come together in compact masses because grouping together offers safety in numbers from predators, such as falcons. Such predators find it hard to target one bird in the middle of a hypnotising flock of up to thousands. Other reasons for murmurations include include the warmth of a group at night during the winter. They also gather to exchange information, such as good feeding areas. Organisations can learn a lot from such behaviour.
Sycophants are not wondering what is best for the organisation, they are only interested in what is best for them. If you ask them about for a SWOT analysis of your company product or opportunities for disruption, they will spout some generic nonsense. However, ask them about section 2, article 3c, paragraph 2 of the company handbook and they will recite it to the letter. In essence, they know how to survive in an organisation all the way to pension, riding on the coattails of those in power.
Working in corporation change is fraught with many challenges. One of these challenges is ostracisation and rejection of the change agent by the corporate immune system. It is useful to understand why this resistance can be expected. Many change makers struggle with this apparent rejection by their colleagues and with the inevitable frustration due to the glacial speed of progress. The reasons for such phenomena are as manifold as the obstacles one must overcome. However, for this Thursday Thought, let’s consider a core reason why change is so difficult: the fear of the unknown.
One of the challenges that so many organisations and individuals face is that we have grown accustomed to a steady and stable environment. The relative stability of the post-war period, an anomalous period in world history, has somewhat contributed to our conditioning for stability. As a result, our mental and operational flexibility has atrophied. Progress and change only happen when we adapt, when we permanent reinvent, when we understand that chaos and order are bedfellows.
The chemical reactions involved in striking a match provide a great metaphor for the plight of a corporate change maker.
Swiss cheese Model for Ideas Aidan McCullen. Have you noticed a colleague who was once full of ideas, who has gone unusually quiet? Perhaps you may assume they are just disinterested? You may think they are having a bad day? Perhaps instead, they have fallen prey to a corporate lobotomy? Perhaps they are worn down? Perhaps they just couldn’t be bothered any more.
What does Tree Dieback have to do with leadership? Nature instinctively knows what to do to ensure the survival of a species, but we homo sapiens can make things much more complicated than they might otherwise be. Biases, blind spots and clinging to the status quo block our progress. Being aware of this is the first step.
Curiosity is essential, but… Preschool children ask an average of 100 questions per day, but shamefully, by middle school, they all but stop asking questions. In a world of abundant data and information, asking the right question is an invaluable skill. The answer can be found easily, coming up with the right question is much more difficult.
Prometheus risked everything to give us a spark, a fire within. Therefore, it is our responsibility to kindle that spark, to keep it alive and to nurture it on to future generations. We are all born with a spark, however small and however clouded by circumstance. Many of us all our spark to fizzle as we grown older or allow others to extinguish or douse our inner flames. While we will not suffer torture like Prometheus did, not embracing our spark can result in mental torture throughout our existence.