Originally circulated on 21 February 2020
Hi fellow Ruminants & Groupies
Apologies for the very slow start to Ruminant Pink Friday’s ™ in 2020. My weak excuse is that I was sprinting.
I think it is appropriate to start the year with one of my favourite topics which is dominance hierarchies. Earlier I introduced this topic via Jordan Petersen, the controversial and crazy Canadian psychologist. Dominance hierarchies are pervasive in nature in many species. Certainly to me it is a self-evident fact that dominance hierarchies are pervasive in human society and in all organisations and companies. This is related to our evolutionary history and the successful dominance of the human species on the planet. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227078489_Dominance_hierarchies_and_the_evolution_of_human_reasoning
The prevalence of dominance hierarchies does not sit well with the prevailing politically correct liberal orthodoxy where the notion of dominance hierarchies is distasteful and is denied. https://theconversation.com/psychologist-jordan-peterson-says-lobsters-help-to-explain-why-human-hierarchies-exist-do-they-90489. This article tries to argue that we can choose to believe that all humans are unique and equal – we then have the power to make society fairer.
Research also suggests that flat structures in companies can create better outcomes. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/rethinking-hierarchy-workplace. They introduce the concept of a holocracy which is described as decentralized management and organizational governance, in which authority and decision-making are distributed throughout a holarchy of self-organizing teams rather than being vested in a management hierarchy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holacracy. The Stanford article then points out that the movement around holocracy has not created great success and they wring their hands about that.
After 58 years of observation on this planet I will try to summarise this as follows:
“Life is not fair and it never will be. Dominance hierarchies are hardwired into human society. If you want to be more successful the route to achieving this is to improve your position in the dominance hierarchy “
Of course as you get older you progressively lose your ability to maintain your position in the dominance hierarchy. Being at the top of the dominance hierarchy is transient. In nature the dominant individuals are eventually cast out of the herd and so it is in life.
Belated best wishes for 2020 and please provide me with lots of inspiration for the continuation of Ruminant Pink Friday ™ in 2020.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 