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Why they are damselfish.... know dear corporate leaders

Feature Article Why they are damselfish.... know dear corporate leaders
NOV 3, 2013 LISTEN

When the employees get scared of their bosses and the corporate? When and why they become cunning, cleaver and escapist? Many would say that when the employee has not done the job assigned to them or had committed a mistake etc. will resort to above practices. But the truth is different.

In any corporate, where the employees are hunt frequently or there is a persistent threat to their job, naturally the employees become wary about the corporate and the people. Otherwise the people will be generally 'naïve', 'innocent' and 'focused' more on their job. Only the 'undue job insecurity' makes people to behave badly in any corporate. Nature has a best example to prove the above fact to the corporate.

The studies on Ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis) in Great Barrier Reef have found that the fish when under threat develops a large circular eye like marking on its tail and is called as 'false eye'. The real eye of the fish under such circumstances naturally shrinks and become small. The interesting thing is that only the young damselfish has shown the above trait and not the well grown ones.

Another more interesting fact is that the damselfish that has experienced such threat previously are more sensitive and quick in demonstrating the above trait than the ones that had not undergone such threat previously. The above findings are not just observations but the outcome of some well designed scientific experiments.

The management message to be understood from the above is that the employees who exhibit cunningness and escapist behaviour are like young 'damselfish'. Only because of threat, predation and insecurity in the leadership style and culture of the corporate, people resort to such style of operation.

Because of the above reason only, like how the damselfish retracts its real eyes and expand its false eye to confuse and detract the predators, the employees also minimize and retard their real talents and become cunning, cleaver and escapists to deal the people. Like how the young damselfish are more vulnerable, the new joiners are the one who exhibit such traits more.

If the age old employees are also exhibiting such trait means, the culture of such corporate requires complete correction. Only the compelling corporate culture compels the people to behave 'rudimentarily'. Understand the culture and do the correction, automatically the people will change their attitude.

Learn the right management lessons from the vast examples of nature as they have definite meaning and value to the modern corporate.

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

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