Take Care of the Wolves among you
By Anders Drejer & Christer Vindeløv-Lidzélius
Where wolf’s ears are, wolf’s teeth are near
(Volsunga Saga)
Once we were wolves
Are you afraid of the big bad Wolf? Perhaps not, it is a cultural thing and some places in the world does not even know of wolves. In others, such as the world of Vikings, wolves are treated with respect (as they are dangerous natural animals) but not as enemies. Wolves are part of the delicate balance of the nature that we inhabit and needed to take out the weak members of the flock.
Dog? Not so much … Canis Lupus, the wolf, is dangerous indeed. Canis Lupus Familiaris, the domesticated dog, is man’s best friend and usually very friendly. Anders has a dog named Rosebud (Rosie in short), it is a Great Pyrenean Mountain Dog by breed and weighs in at 70+ kilos. Looks like a small Polar Bear and is able to scare off any unwelcome intruder including wolves, bears, burglars and, annoyingly, falling leaves, gusts of wind and so on.
But in general, Rosie is a mild as she is large. Regularly, Anders posts pictures on social media, usually occupying 70% of a normal double bed, with the caution — Once we were wolves, then we discover that humans had beds.
Things change. Wolfs don’t.
Culture eats strategy for break-fast?
Somethings do not change, though. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, great management guru Peter Drucker may or may not have said in his day.
Example? The island of Iceland has a population of about 250.000 people that are, almost all, related to each other. Therefore, a smart professor sold the Intellectual Property Rights to their collective DNA pool to multinational medical companies, as the heretical traits of a limited population may be of value for commercial companies.
Why do we tell you this? Well, the people of Iceland all descend from the Vikings that were so violent and menacing that they, in effect, were banished from Scandinavia and had to sail off, found Iceland and settled there. And like DNA cultural traits do seem to be very consistent. Knowing many wonderful people from Iceland, we know that an Icelandic person will never shy away from any challenge or a fight. They are, still to this day, flamboyant, challenging and innovative fighters. True Vikings.
Fight or flee?
Evolution is a wonderful thing. It works. You are a human being and have domesticated wolves to be dogs for 100.000 years. So, and do think of this as a manager and leader, what kind of behaviour makes sense for a human being in an evolutionary perspective while being threatened?
Now, imagine that you are in the Stone Age watching a field with your best friend. Something moves a few meters away, suddenly. Is it a Wolf? What do you do? The smart thing, from an evolutionary and not necessarily moral perspective, is to knock your friend unconscious and run for your life as the wolf eats your friend. Evolutionary logic.
In order to achieve that your brains need the “flight or fight” reflex. And is evolutionary. When a signal enters your brain this signal goes straight to the so-called “lizard brain”, where it is decided that you should run or fight. Very fast. Faster than how the conscious mind works. Only then the signal is transferred to your frontal loops, where reason resides and where the so-called rational analysis can be made. But, by then, your brain has decided whether to fight or flee …
Big dogs do not have to bark
Anders once played a game of football against the Scandinavian equivalent to legendary footballer and madman, Paul Gascoigne, and observed that this player seemed to not be able to flee. Every duel, every confrontation, was his to win. Apart from the blood still kept on the jersey of that day (not Anders’), the realization that, as a manager, you need to appreciate and to take care of such people. Apparently, in 98% af cases dogs and human decide to flee … so the 2% that does not is a very valuable resource.
This begs the question to you — are you a Wolf or a Dog? Think carefully now.