Be an African spiny mouse to your silly boss – a HR message

It is worth losing than having, if such losses can save the life. This finest management message or approach exists so vividly in nature. The nature is not simply shares the above message as an advice or theory but in fact it gives best example for one to learn and follow. The African spiny mouse, a species of rodent is created in nature only on the premise of the above management principle.

Skin of the African spiny mouse is very thin and hence it easily gets breaks or peeled off with the least tension, especially when a predator catches the animal. Interestingly, the entire skin with the hair follicles regenerates in a few days. Because of the weak and easily breakable skin, the animal often escapes from the predator. Naturally the predator will be left with a piece of skin whereas the animal would have moved to a safe place.

The message is that never bother too much about what you lose but recognize what you gain ultimately by loosing something. For the African spiny mouse, saving its life is more important than loosing a piece of skin. Hence the evolution would have favoured the animal with very lose and weak skin that breaks easily with least tension. The regenerating capacity of the skin of African spiny mouse also has attracted the scientists of evolutionary biology and skin biology in equal measure.

In corporate, the people must adopt the approach of an African spiny mouse while conducting business. The larger interest and the goal only should drive and kindle people in corporate and they should never compromise the larger interest and goal over some petty loses. But unfortunately, most people in corporate give enormous value to ‘petty’ things and run after it. They grossly miss the larger interest, either of their own or of the corporate.

Most corporate bosses often fall prey to such petty leadership style. They give more importance for ‘yours obediently behaviour’ than the work acumen, intelligence, commitment and other meritorious qualities. A simple incidence of the subordinates has not greeted the boss or has not said good morning becomes an issue in some corporate that are run as family show. Such subordinates, however talented they might be, are not liked by the bosses in general as the ego becomes everything for the boss.

The subordinates also must understand the fact that if their bosses likes only petty things like ‘yours obediently’ behaviour from the subordinates, then learn to respect the same to some extend, however unfortunate it may be.

The message is that people should be driven only by the larger interest/goal in life and trivial things should never bother them. They should be like how an African spiny mouse that lose its skin to save its life.

Dr S Ranganathan