How many ‘Pom-Pom’ Crabs are there in your corporate?

Nature has the best example for the popular idiom/phrase that “he fired from over her shoulder”. Most people in corporate often use the above technique. Especially the corporate bosses often resort to the above method to deal people especially when they directly do not want to involve in the matter. It is not unknown that people use someone to fight on their behalf and or for them.

The corporate must learn about a particular species of crab –called ‘boxing crab’ or ‘pom-pom’ crab. This species of crab is the best example of nature where one can see how they ‘fire from over other’s shoulder’ to ward off their enemies. The crab forms symbiotic association with another animal in the sea – the sea anemone. The crab holds the sea anemone in its claws for defense. They hit and punch the predators/enemies with sea anemone exactly like how a boxer do and that is how they earned the popular name – boxing crab or pom-pom crab. By being in the claws of the crab, the sea anemone could move to different places and find its food easily. In this symbiotic relationship, both the boxing crab and sea anemone mutually benefit.

In some corporate, the personal secretary of the boss, the driver or even the peon are assumed to be the ‘power centres’ and through them, the bosses used to send their desired messages to others. Like how both the boxing crab and the sea anemone benefit from such symbiotic relationship, in corporate also, the people from such relationship benefit. But the question is, will such relationship benefit the corporate?

Unlike the boxing crab, the corporate bosses have bigger role in the organization and also hold responsibility. Between the crab and the sea anemone, only the mutual welfare and their existence are important but the corporate bosses have to ensure the welfare of the corporate at large.

What we call as beneficial relationship in nature can go harmful and deadly in corporate. The message is that never define whether it is symbiosis or not and whether both are mutually benefit or not, but see its larger implications and consequences to the corporate as a whole.

Every definition has to be understood definitely in the contextual sense as every meaning is relative and situational dependent. Be aware of the fact that whether your people are sea anemones or boxing crabs and if so, never get lost in such mutually beneficial relationship. Ensure that such relationship also benefit the corporate.

It is not one benefiting the other and vice versa, the role must completely, totally and uniformly benefit every objectives of the organization.

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