LAW OF THE JUNGLE: BE NICE

When making the case for why they have to be nasty to succeed, many businesspeople will toss off shop–worn adages likening the corporate world to the wild. ”It’s a jungle out there.“ ”It’s a dog-eat-dog world.“ ”Welcome to the rat race.“ Etc. etc.

As we explain in The Power of Nice, we’ve always felt that this conventional wisdom was completely wrong. You succeed by flashing a smile, not by baring your teeth. So we were pleased to read about new research that the so–called ”law of the jungle“ doesn’t even work in the jungle.

The New York Times reports that scientists have witnessed altruistic behavior in primates – including chimpanzees who could not swim but drowned trying to save others floundering in zoo moats, and rhesus monkeys who chose to go hungry rather than pull a chain that administered shocks to another monkey. (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20611FE3C540C738EDDAA0894DF404482)

Primatologist Frans de Waal told the Times that we shouldn’t be surprised if primates exhibit socially conscious behavior, explaining that when female chimps try to get feuding males to patch things up, they’re looking out for the good of the group – a harmonious tribe is less vulnerable to predators than an acrimonious one. The fact that chimps are more likely to share their food with the chimps who have groomed them also makes good sense – as anyone who has ever uttered the phrase ”You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours“ can attest.

So let’s hang up this notion that equates ”survival of the fittest“ with those sorry souls who claw their way to the top and savage everyone in their midst. In order to thrive – both in the jungle and the business world – you’ll need lots of peace, love and understanding. Any monkey knows that.