Dinosaurs and dolphins as corporate creatures

Distinct or extinct? That is the challenge in front of us in an increasingly competitive world. It is a fact that dinosaurs only exist in movies. It is also a fact that dolphins are intelligent and can adapt to a changing environment. Today's column takes a look at lessons from 'dinosaur exit' and 'dolphin distinct' with regard to surviving and succeeding amidst a surge of changes for better or for worse.

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals that appeared approximately 230 million years ago. Scientists are of the view that all dinosaurs became extinct around 61 million years ago which is shortly past the Cretaceous Period.

No one really knows for sure how exactly dinosaurs became extinct but there is much evidence showing a sudden stop as opposed to the dinosaurs slowly dying off. With this strange mystery, there are many theories on the possible reasons to what happened to stop the species. Some are not very realistic as many are only suggestions, and are not backed by proof.

Dinosaurs in the Corporate World

There are people who resist change. It is a common factor in corporations. Change is uncomfortable. Human nature is such that there is resistance to move beyond comfort zones. Renowned novelist D. H. Lawrence puts this vividly, "No one fears a new idea, what they fear is a new experience". Telling is easy and doing is difficult.

The worst part is that the corporate dinosaurs block creative ideas. They find hundreds of ways to say 'no' to an initiative. These 'nay sayers' have a popular practice to kill an idea. "Yes it is a good idea, but it will not work here". This 'yes-butting' is frustrating from the individual point of view and is also faulty from the institutional point of view.

Many forms of such corporate dinosaurs are seen in Sri Lankan organizations as well.

In the case of the public sector, overly clinging on to financial and administrative regulations in killing new ideas is a common complaint. I have met many public administrators who say why an initiative cannot be implemented giving so many reasons without focusing on how it can be made implementable. This is in direct contrast to what Kumaratunga Munidasa, our language maestro said. "A nation without innovation will not prosper. It will lay lamenting, being unable to beg".

Dolphins

In the private sector too, we can occasionally see the presence of dinosaurs. Those who are adamant about doing a task in the old, traditional way, without changing for the better qualify to be in this category. Some of them are scared of technology. They hide their technical ignorance by proclaiming that they never use a mobile "as a matter of principle".

Dolphins are marine mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves. They are carnivores and eat mostly fish and squid. The family of dolphins evolved relatively later, about ten million years ago, during the Miocene era.

They are among the most intelligent animals and their friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude have made them popular in human culture. Dolphins are believed to be the most intelligent of all animals. Comparatively, a dolphin is as intelligent as a two-year-old human.

Social behaviour of dolphins

Dolphins frequently accompany boats, riding the bow waves. They are also famous for their willingness to occasionally approach humans and playfully interact with them in the water. There have been reports of dolphins protecting swimmers against sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers.

Dolphins are social animals, which live in pods (also called 'schools') of up to a dozen animals. In places with a high abundance of food, schools may join temporarily, forming an aggregation called a super pod. Such groupings may be over 1,000 dolphins. They communicate using a variety of clicks, whistles and other vocalizations. They also use ultrasonic sounds for echolocation.

Membership in schools is not rigid and interchange is common. However, the animals can establish strong bonds between each other. This leads to them staying with injured or ill fellows for support.

Because of their high capacity for learning, humans have employed dolphins for many purposes. Dolphins trained to perform in front of an audience have become a favourite attraction, for example Sea World in Florida, USA. Dolphin and human interaction is also employed in a curative sense at places where dolphins work with autistic or otherwise differently-abled children. The military has employed dolphins for various purposes from finding mines to rescuing lost or trapped persons

Corporate dolpins

These are a preferred or perhaps badly needed and sadly missing category of employees. They are creative and take initiatives. They work in synergy with their colleagues, showing synergy in action. They act as team players in driving teams to reach great heights.

They thrive on change and in fact act like champions of change. Dynamism, flexibility and enthusiasm are visible in these managers. They are the first to come up with creative ideas, innovative solutions and novel practices. Like the intelligent dolphins, these corporate creatures drive change in organizations.

They are idea generators and task implementers. In essence, they appear as thinking performers.

They appear to be a rare breed in the Sri Lankan corporate world. Thinking out of the box in coming forward with novel solutions to pressing issues is what is in high demand.

Of late, increased recognition of such devoted dolphins can be seen especially in the private sector.

The case is worse in the public sector where conformance over creativity is the norm.

When seniority is the criteria for promotions, more talented younger players get sidelined.

The time has come for Sri Lankan organizations to grow and glow. Transitioning from a dinosaur mindset to a dolphin mindset is of utmost importance. It is hoped that public administrators and business partners act accordingly in moving towards successful and sustained achievements.

Dr. Ajantha S. Dharmasiri is the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Management. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Management and Entrepreneurship, Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, USA.