Selfless and self-serving jobs resemble wheat stalks and rivers

CorporateNature No 137

There are two types of jobs: selfless and self-serving. They have a lot in common with wheat and water in the metaphorical realm.

1. SELFLESS JOBS RESEMBLE SEEDS THAT SCATTER

Professions such as teaching and nursing benefit society: these vocations exist for the greater good of all people. People working in these positions spend their time and energy selflessly, often driven by the conviction that their noble efforts must help those around them. In financial slang, these people "leave money on the table" (for others to pick up), i.e. they create value that is not appropriated by themselves.

Such occupations resemble a wheat stalk that shatters and sheds its seeds on the ground. While this is not beneficial for the farmer who planted the wheat, it helps propagate future generations. 

2. SELF-SERVING JOBS ARE SEEDS THAT DO NOT SHATTER

Bankers work hard, just like nurses and teachers. However, they appropriate most of the results of their efforts for their own benefit. Ironically, they are people who work with money, yet they "don't leave money on the table" as they are better at extracting value for themselves. 

This profession resembles cereal plants that do not shatter and whose grains stay on the stalk after ripening. Although this is good for the farmer who planted the cereals as it allows harvesting the grain,  the natural process of propagating the seeds is put in jeopardy.

3. SELFLESS JOBS RESEMBLE RIVERS THAT DON'T REACH THE SEA

Another example from nature can illustrate this parallel: most rivers reach the sea and deliver their water to the ocean, give or take some evaporation and human consumption. Such rivers are like the “bankers” who keep resources to themselves.

On the other hand, a handful of rivers never reach the ocean, e.g. the Okavango in southern Africa. The Okavango irrigates a vast inland delta and subsumes itself into it. The Okavango disperses all its water into a vast and fertile wetland that creates habitats for myriads of animals and plants, just like teachers and the nurses give themselves away for the benefit of humankind.

Wheat stalk (image source: Wikipedia) 

In times of corporate crisis: domesticate corn!

On bleeding and seeding in companies, animals and plants
By George ILIEV

When someone is seriously injured, bleeding is often the primary cause of death. When a company is in crisis, employees leave en masse. What makes the situation worse is that the best employees are the first to leave.

An analogous phenomenon called shattering can be observed in the wild cereal plants, though a bit earlier in their life cycle: the seeds break off from the corn cob (or the wheat ear) as soon as they have ripened. This evolutionary adaptation of the plants works well for them in the wild, as the seeds are scattered in all directions, but this makes their harvesting by humans almost impossible.

Domestication of corn

This is why when prehistoric farmers at the dawn of agriculture set about domesticating cereal crops, the first trait they bred out of maize (corn) and wheat was exactly shattering. Only after they had managed to hold the seeds together for harvesting could they focus their attention on other traits for selective growing such as drought resistance and improved nutrition.

Image contribution: Wikipedia


Lessons for the CEO:

The first thing medics do  when someone is wounded is try to stop the bleeding. When a company is in crisis, stopping shattering is the prerequisite for corporate recovery.