Freedom and problems – HR message from Dog’s shoulder bone

How good or wise is in taking a neutral stand or otherwise not attached to anything such as people, some dogmas and belief systems incorporate?

Many people do believe that by being ‘neutral’, they can avoid controversy & public wrath and enjoy freedom and independence. Being neutral means one not getting attached or affiliated to anything like people, any particular dogmas or belief systems. But the question is that whether the above stand or approach holds any merit or sense from a management perspective? Will such an approach give any extra edge to people in corporate?

Look at the anatomy of canines especially the dogs. The skeletal architecture of dogs has the finest answer for the above management question. The shoulder blades of the dogs are not attached to rest of the skeleton. This will enable absolute flexibility to the legs of a dog while running. When the shoulder blade is located freely, it can certainly move freely.

If it had attached to the skeleton, the flexibility and freedom of the bone will have certain restrictions. Imagine how beautifully nature has understood this management approach and has tried out the same in the skeletal architecture of dogs.

Nature also teaches another important management message to the corporate world through its above experiment. The people, when show no 'personal' attachment or affiliation to anything, can enjoy absolute freedom, flexibility, and autonomy. This is the first management teaching. The second important management message/teaching also essentially comes from the first experiment of nature.

When one is not attached or affiliated to anything enjoys a great amount of freedom and flexibility. Equal to the proportion of freedom and flexibility that they enjoy, problems are also plenty of such people. Among many animals, dogs are the worst sufferers of joint problems in the legs and most of such problems are permanent in nature. Since their shoulder blade is not attached to the skeleton, they easily get fractured or injured.

When one is attached or affiliated to something such attachments/affiliations also offers some protection. The message is that every limitation has an advantage and every advantage has some limitation.

This absolute management wisdom not come as ‘just theory’, nature has conducted several experiments by creating many species of plants and animals and has tested and proved the sanctity of such ‘wisdom’.

The corporate leaders have several management lessons to learn from nature. Learning is possible only if they have openness and acceptance that they have a lot to learn and nature has a lot to teach. Improvement and improvisation are possible only when the newer knowledge is admixed with the preexisting knowledge.

Dr. S Ranganathan