September 2003 • Table of Contents

Career Corner

Lessons From Prairie Dogs

by Hank Lindborg

Prairie dogs have now faded from the headlines. Always under suspicion as carriers of plague, they now have transmitted monkeypox virus to their owners and admirers in Wisconsin and other states.

News media have warned of the rapid spread of epidemics in a global society and especially of the dangers of trade in exotic pets. (On their way to loving homes, the offending prairie dogs had, it seems, contracted the disease from a giant Gambian rat--apparently another favorite of the kids.) Focusing on the prairie dogs themselves, I have drawn some other lessons of my own.

When they aren't being exchanged at Midwestern swap meets, prairie dogs live across the western United States in "towns," subdivided into smaller "wards." Prairie dog colonies can be impressive. A century ago, one in Texas was home to more than 300 million of these ground squirrels and extended for hundreds of miles.

Although human incursions have significantly reduced their numbers, prairie dogs survive by relying on a remarkable communication system and rapid retreat. Their language of chirps enables them to emit warnings specific to each of their predators--differentiating among weasels, hawks, snakes and other enemies. Their speed allows them to disappear quickly from sight. So, in the animal kingdom, they may be best at identifying threats and at least world-class at hiding. Their skills--and their limitations--mirror some of our own.

Organizations

Most of the organizations I've helped with strategic planning are good at identifying immediate threats, as are individual employees. This skill improves in hard times (the early 1990s and early 2000s, for example). Massive layoffs in manufacturing, retail, aviation, finance and now even education focus our attention--as does the specter of a jobless recovery.

As prospects for domestic manufacturers erode, threats are easy to find. However, like other survival skills, threat identification can be overused.

In fact, some organizations are so good at identifying threats in good times and in bad they neglect building additional capabilities. I now see them as "prairie dog firms." The psychiatrist Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries called them paranoid organizations. They engage in "perpetual vigilance and preparedness for emergencies."¹

Like prairie dogs, these organizations have sophisticated systems for environmental scanning and communication of threats. Unfortunately, they generate an atmosphere of distrust, centralize power at the top (while still consulting and sharing information necessary for analysis) and develop defensive rather than proactive strategies.

In spite of obsessively collecting information, paranoid organizations often overvalue secrecy. Small defensive units develop. These firms are like prairie dogs that live in large towns but interact only within much smaller coteries, each group defending its own little territory. There are enemies within and without. Fight or flight responses are common.

Under stress, many organizations not previously paranoid adopt these behaviors, as do employees whose careers are threatened. Perhaps the worst symptom is hiding, hoping the predators will go away.

What To Do?

What to do? Nibbling grass, watching for snakes and diving for cover may be a good life for the prairie dog but probably are not for the rest of us. Threats are real, but we can choose our responses:

• Embrace change. This is an overworked cliché, but it's also a principle for growth. Too often organizations sell change in ways that are more annoying than helpful. Leaders must communicate openly about threats and clearly define paths to strategic objectives. Secrecy leads to long-term problems. In our own careers, we can't hide. This means continually seeking opportunities to develop new skills and use old ones in new situations.
• Develop skills in life scenario planning. Given the turbulence in our business/jobs environment, prediction is difficult. So organizations and individuals need to develop a number of possible futures. Working through what we will do if certain conditions arise prepares us for those conditions, keeps us proactive in looking beyond immediate threats and helps us evaluate risks.
• Remember that SWOT has four letters. Strengths and opportunities are as important as weaknesses and threats.

Prairie dogs are good at some things, but not at thinking about the future. Remember this the next time you see one. But don't pet it. It may have a virus.

REFERENCE

1. Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries and Danny Miller, The Neurotic Organization, Harper Collins, 1990, p.23.

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HENRY J. LINDBORG is executive director and CEO of the National Institute for Quality Improvement, which provides consulting in strategic planning, organizational development and assessment. He holds a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and teaches in a leadership and quality graduate program. Lindborg is past chair of ASQ's Education Division and currently serves on the Education and Training Board.

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