BE MORE FROG
It is said frogs put in boiling water will jump out immediately, but if put in cold water and then that water heated, the frog will not move and quickly die.
It’s used as an analogy to describe how if we as humans find ourselves in a situation that slowly becomes toxic, we don’t notice the gradual descent. It’s often true of companies too, where a kind of ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ approach is accepted, and there’s little thought for the need to change our position for the better.
Nothing changes fast, so people take comfort in that equating to nothing can go wrong fast.
We, like frogs, need to be shocked into action if we are to notice a need for change.
The only issue with the frog analogy is that, and I’m quoting the Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians at the National Museum of Natural History; 'it’s complete bullshit’.
A frog will jump out of water as soon as it begins to be in harm's way.
The myth about frogs is made up to make us feel better about being implicit in a business culture that increasingly stifles change.
In a way it’s not our fault. Frogs don’t communicate with each other all that much. We on the other hand communicate so much we influence other people’s thoughts. And that is a very bad thing for the culture of your business.
Very bad indeed.
Bear with me. There is a caveat.
We like comfort and easy decisions. The easiest decision is to not make one. If ten people say everything is fine, we are happy to just go with it.
This behavioural trait we humans have is labelled ‘groupthink’.
It minimises conflict, contention, and reaches a consensus decision. Which sounds wonderful. But it does so by suppressing dissenting viewpoints and critical evaluation. And it’s this lack of contention in the culture of bigger companies that’s not great for innovation, or any positive change for that matter.
Start-up companies thrive on challenging existing thinking. They are constantly testing and evaluating their norms. Their culture is designed specifically for this, where employees are valued on their inquisitive nature and daringness to call bullshit. Looking at the number of billion dollar valued companies under ten years old suggests they’re onto something.
It’s clear big companies need to borrow a page from start-ups regarding culture. But more than offering talent an emotionally rewarding place to work, culture is business critical for both inward and outward viewpoints. Inwards, to realise your inefficiencies, outward to manoeuvre for the next change in the market. It doesn’t have to be a big change that disrupts your market. Look it up, it’s known as aggregation of marginal losses. 1% negativity in every area will compound your whole business. The opposite, you’ll be pleased to read, is also true. Fancy that, a 1% positive change in every little thing you do provides aggregation of marginal gains; thank you Sir Dave Brailsford!
Behaving like a start up when you are hundreds of people strong is difficult. With many clients, our biggest challenge is identifying where groupthink is influencing culture, and how we can break it up. One helpful suggestion is to be open to outside perspectives. Outsiders naturally won’t feel pressure to conform to inside or group thinking, and can help instil a culture that rewards team members to act in the same way; with an outsider perspective.
Allowing a fresh perspective on your business and the balls to act on that is both uncomfortable and necessary, so take solace in the increasingly relevant idea that the biggest risk is to avoid taking risk.
With many clients, we are trying to create a culture without groupthink, and instil an attitude and behaviour of a start up, no matter the size of your company.
It’s used as an analogy to describe how if we as humans find ourselves in a situation that slowly becomes toxic, we don’t notice the gradual descent. It’s often true of companies too, where a kind of ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ approach is accepted, and there’s little thought for the need to change our position for the better.
Nothing changes fast, so people take comfort in that equating to nothing can go wrong fast.
We, like frogs, need to be shocked into action if we are to notice a need for change.
The only issue with the frog analogy is that, and I’m quoting the Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians at the National Museum of Natural History; 'it’s complete bullshit’.
A frog will jump out of water as soon as it begins to be in harm's way.
The myth about frogs is made up to make us feel better about being implicit in a business culture that increasingly stifles change.
In a way it’s not our fault. Frogs don’t communicate with each other all that much. We on the other hand communicate so much we influence other people’s thoughts. And that is a very bad thing for the culture of your business.
Very bad indeed.
Bear with me. There is a caveat.
We like comfort and easy decisions. The easiest decision is to not make one. If ten people say everything is fine, we are happy to just go with it.
This behavioural trait we humans have is labelled ‘groupthink’.
It minimises conflict, contention, and reaches a consensus decision. Which sounds wonderful. But it does so by suppressing dissenting viewpoints and critical evaluation. And it’s this lack of contention in the culture of bigger companies that’s not great for innovation, or any positive change for that matter.
Start-up companies thrive on challenging existing thinking. They are constantly testing and evaluating their norms. Their culture is designed specifically for this, where employees are valued on their inquisitive nature and daringness to call bullshit. Looking at the number of billion dollar valued companies under ten years old suggests they’re onto something.
It’s clear big companies need to borrow a page from start-ups regarding culture. But more than offering talent an emotionally rewarding place to work, culture is business critical for both inward and outward viewpoints. Inwards, to realise your inefficiencies, outward to manoeuvre for the next change in the market. It doesn’t have to be a big change that disrupts your market. Look it up, it’s known as aggregation of marginal losses. 1% negativity in every area will compound your whole business. The opposite, you’ll be pleased to read, is also true. Fancy that, a 1% positive change in every little thing you do provides aggregation of marginal gains; thank you Sir Dave Brailsford!
Behaving like a start up when you are hundreds of people strong is difficult. With many clients, our biggest challenge is identifying where groupthink is influencing culture, and how we can break it up. One helpful suggestion is to be open to outside perspectives. Outsiders naturally won’t feel pressure to conform to inside or group thinking, and can help instil a culture that rewards team members to act in the same way; with an outsider perspective.
Allowing a fresh perspective on your business and the balls to act on that is both uncomfortable and necessary, so take solace in the increasingly relevant idea that the biggest risk is to avoid taking risk.
With many clients, we are trying to create a culture without groupthink, and instil an attitude and behaviour of a start up, no matter the size of your company.
