Friday Forward - Dodo Instincts (#493)

Institutions and individuals lose their vigilance for danger, mistaking comfort for safety until it’s too late

In the 1600s, a strange-looking, flightless bird called the dodo lived peacefully on the island of Mauritius.

Because the dodo lived without natural predators for generations, it lost its fear instinct. When humans and predatory animals arrived, the dodo didn’t fight or flee; instead, it walked right up to potential threats. Within a few decades, the dodo was extinct.

Because of this story, the term dodo often is used to describe someone who is slow, oblivious, or, frankly, unintelligent. But the dodo’s extinction is also an evolutionary cautionary tale about what happens when living without threats causes us to forget how to recognize danger.

This lack of a fear instinct is often visible in business.

Some of the most resilient, adaptable companies in history were forged during hardship: IBM during the Great Depression, Intel in the 1980s memory crisis, Amazon during the dot-com collapse, Airbnb in the 2008 financial crisis. These companies were shaped by leaders who learned how to operate in difficult times. Andy Grove, who led Intel through its defining strategic pivot, famously titled his business memoir, Only The Paranoid Survive, espousing the philosophy that complacency is fatal.

Since Grove’s departure, it seems Intel has lost its paranoid edge. Intel has struggled mightily, losing more than half the value it held at the end of Grove’s tenure almost 30 years ago. It’s ironic that they’ve become a cautionary tale for the opposite of Grove’s mindset: when organizations stop thinking of themselves as fighting for their very survival, they tend to fall behind in a highly competitive landscape.

This dodo-esque complacency can also be found in social movements.

In much of the modern Western world today, many people, especially younger generations, have grown up in remarkable comfort and freedom from a historical perspective, largely removed from any major conflict. They’ve been raised in societies where rights are protected, dissent is allowed, and identity is something you can freely define and express.

But what these insulated people don’t realize is those freedoms are not universal. They are also relatively recent and hard-won, earned through generations of struggle, sacrifice, and conflict. If you haven’t had to live without them, it’s natural to take them for granted and assume they’re ubiquitous or permanent.

It’s not uncommon now to see people holding $1,000 iPhones and sipping Starbucks while romanticizing movements that would outlaw the very lifestyles and freedoms they take for granted. Many ideologies praised by these privileged groups restrict women’s speech and expression, punish homosexuality with imprisonment or even death, limit individual freedoms and ownership, and censor artistic or intellectual works. While it’s jarring to see people loudly support the repression of the freedoms they enjoy themselves, it makes sense. Like the dodo, these people have lost their instinct for danger or natural predators.

To be clear, questioning power, advocating for justice, and pushing for a better world are admirable qualities. But these things must be done with discernment, which means understanding the difference between fighting injustice and unknowingly embracing something worse. You want to stand up for what you believe is right but avoid being manipulated by people who would happily take away your freedoms for the sake of their own power.

There’s a clear reason why people are sometimes drawn to causes that run counter to the very values that keep them safe and free. When you’re disillusioned with the current system, the opposite can seem appealing, especially if it comes with a strong sense of belonging and a crowd that welcomes anyone who repeats the right slogans.

But mobs thrive on groupthink and tribalism. And when the mob walks itself off a cliff, tribal loyalty won’t break your fall.

In organizations and societies, the pattern is the same. When leaders forged by struggle are replaced by those who only know comfort and success, the outcomes are rarely good. As with the dodo, both institutions and individuals lose their vigilance for danger, mistaking comfort for safety until it’s too late.

Quote of The Week

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.” – Michael Hoph

Have a great weekend!

-Bob
robertglazer.com

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