Learning from Dogs

Last weekend I was walking along Stinson Beach and watched two dogs playing. One was focused on getting the recently launched ball, while the other chose to focus on simply getting in the way of the other dog's progress. It made me think of the book idea I had a few years back - What can dogs teach us? Never did anything with that idea but it's still there in the back of my mind.

The idea started with my dog Ilsa, who would chase butterflies for hours. The trouble was she always chased the shadows rather than looking up to see the butterflies. It reminded me of a number of things including of course Plato. First, something spectacular can be missed by focusing on the wrong things and by keeping our focus too narrow. That's why understanding the concept of the adjacent possible is important in our business. Secondly, it reminded me that looking down all the time makes you miss out on so much - whether that's the beauty that surrounds you like a Manhattan skyline Vs the pavement or how a consumer behaves with your product Vs looking down at the boardroom table.

Many more philosophical thoughts came from this one observation and Ilsa provided a ton of good observations for me. (Ilsa lives happily with my ex wife in case you were worried.)

So back to the dogs on the beach, which by the way Dolly - my dog now - completely ignored because she was focused on chasing birds. Watching these dogs made me think of the four behaviors of dogs in relation to ball chasing. There's the dog who's obsessed about getting the ball and nothing distracts them. There's the dog that is constantly trying to impede the first dog's goal for no reason - it's not like they have a better game in mind or that they are distracting to try to get the ball themselves. Then there's the third kind of dog that watches, observes technique and learns. They then become like the first dog but have a better technique. Finally, there's the dog that just doesn't go for the ball. They either have something much better to do like chasing birds or they simply just sit there - as if they are thinking 'been there, done that and it's not that interesting. It's just a ball'.

Obviously, I love the strategist dog that observes, thinks and then goes ball chasing using a better technique. I love the first dog that just goes for the ball and delivers on the objective. I respect the last dog that says it's not for me but I really struggle with the second dog that gets in the way for no reason and my problem is that there are too many of these in business.

They may disguise themselves through the occasional interesting question (on a good day) but invariably they are the ones who knock ideas down without having a better idea. They claim to be too busy to help guide others yet no one knows what exactly they are doing. They whisper in corridors. They agree with you in meetings and then talk others out of the idea once the meeting is over. They are generally obstructive with no end goal in mind.

With dogs, I guess you can stop that dog from playing but at the end of the day it's not that bothersome for the other dogs so probably not worth doing. In business however, I think these people are completely bothersome and we need to reduce their impact. My solution has been to bypass them after of course challenging them head on but I don't think bypassing them is the best solution. What has worked best for me is to create very accountable goals. Giving them clear goals is like teaching the disruptive dog to get the ball. It works but it takes work. Is it worth it? That's up for debate and my recommendation is to always be in search of better talent to replace those that take up too much oxygen but while there's a dearth of talent, it has to better to teach an old dog new tricks than let it continue to be an old dog.