Sensitive or sentimental – HR message from touch-me-not plant

By being sensitive or having high level of sensitivity is not enough for success. Then what else is essential would be the next question? Most of the corporate trainers emphasize and ask the people to be sensitive, assertive, proactive, pragmatic and articulate etc.

Fine, if one is sensitive and also shows high level of sensitivity, is that enough? Even the nature also has posed such question which the corporate must learn. Exhibiting high degree of sensitivity and responding sensitively are not the same, according to nature. Hence, the corporate leaders have to teach people to respond sensitively than just disposing and exhibiting sensitivity. Only when one is sensible, could respond sensitively.

Look at the plant ‘touch-me-not’, which is botanically called Mimosa pudica. This plant is a member of the big legume family, family Fabacea. The gigantic trees like rose wood, rain tree, Acacia etc are the real cousins of the plant - touch-me-not.

The touch-me-not plant has thorns. It is a creeper, grows on the ground surface. It has developed high sensitivity may be only to exhibit its sensitivity. A gentle touch or sound is sufficient to make the plant to rapidly fold its leaves. It responds quickly to an alert by folding its leaves and remains there.

This may be one of the reasons why the plant touch-me-not remains the same despite having high level of sensitivity. May be (hypothetically) or only because of the ‘sensitivity of this plant’, its other cousins would have evolved and grown as tall trees.

Or, nature wants to leave a best example for the corporate man to learn about how the sensitivity impedes growth and advancement and hence the plant touch-me-not remains the same.

One has to derive the right message from the above example. Many people in corporate exhibit high level of sensitivity. They may come up with different probabilities and possibilities. Many would make several predictions about market, competition etc. Unfortunately, they do not follow nor will take appropriate actions subsequent to that. By being sensitive in knowing about the reality is one thing but one also has to respond sensibly by having adequate preparedness.

Otherwise one has to remain the same in spite of having all qualities essential for success. Ability is not just for knowing the danger in advance and avoiding it but the ability also has to help one to become successful by defeating such dangers. Otherwise the ability shall become ‘just’ an academic wisdom.

One has to convert the academic wisdom into usable wisdom and that is what the nature conveys to the corporate through its creation of touch-me-not plant.

Learn to be sensitive and simultaneously also be sensible. Sensitivity only defines how one is responding or how one should respond to a situation.

But from such responses, what future course of action one proposes to make alone define how one is sensible. Learn to have both the qualities. The above management message does not deserve scientific dissection but instead needs to look though management perspective.