{"id":16297,"date":"2019-03-28T11:53:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T10:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/?p=16297"},"modified":"2022-08-25T14:55:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:55:30","slug":"the-evolution-of-ideas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/the-evolution-of-ideas-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of ideas – part two. How \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 can actually slow progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why you should be wary of \u2018best practises\u2019, how \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 can actually slow progress in an organisation and why \u2018playing it safe\u2019 can be uncannily risky…<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my previous article, I wrote that innovation is like evolution. Much like organisms, processes, products and services tend to improve gradually. Ineffective processes and products with an unpleasant user experience tend to be replaced by generations of \u2018better\u2019 processes and products. Unfortunately, the evolutionary force that sometimes drives innovation can also slow progress.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this article, I\u2019d like to point out why you should be wary of \u2018best practises\u2019, why \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 can slow progress in an organisation and why playing it safe can be uncannily risky…<\/p>\n

Beware of \u2018best practices\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In nature, it sometimes happens that a feature loses its advantage, yet doesn\u2019t disappear. Think about the \u2018goosebumps\u2019 reflex when you\u2019re cold or scared. Our hairy ancestors could make good use of it. The reflex made their fur stand up, expanding the layer of air between hairs that serves as insulation<\/a><\/span>. It probably also was useful when a predator came too close; the elevated hairs made the frightened animal look bigger and more scary.<\/p>\n

It might have been useful for our hairy ancestors, but we have way too little fur for goosebumps to be of any use. It\u2019s an evolutionary \u2018best practise\u2019 that is no longer valid. Yet it somehow stayed with us.<\/p>\n

The same occurs in organisations. Best practises often outlive their usefulness but many still keep being used. Have you ever wondered, for instance, why almost all newspapers, until recently, were so impractically big?<\/p>\n

How tax evasion led to bigger newspapers<\/h4>\n

In 1712 the UK government decided to start taxing newspaper publishers, based on the number of pages they printed. Clever publishers were quick to respond: they simply made their pages much bigger so they could print the same amount of information on significantly fewer pages. A brilliant solution. And a best practise that quickly became the norm.<\/p>\n

While the tax that made newspapers grow to terribly impractical sizes seized to exist in 1855, it wasn\u2019t until recently that newspapers finally started replacing their broadsheets with tabloid formats. In over a hundred years, no publisher had thought to reduce the ridiculous size of their paper. For them, it simply was the way newspapers where meant to be. Apparently, in all those years no publisher ever stopped to think about the reason newspapers were so big\u2026<\/p>\n

Best practises are great. By all means, learn from the best. However, always remember that even best practises have an expiry date. If something seems odd or unpractical, ask yourself: What\u2019s the reason we\u2019re doing this? Is the reason we started doing things this way still valid?<\/em> Many of today\u2019s useless habits and routines once started out as clever \u2018best practises\u2019. Like goosebumps, they just simply outlived their usefulness.<\/p>\n

This holding on to customs that are no longer useful is also known as the \u2018Pike Syndrome\u2019<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

How \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 can slow progress<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2018Survival of the fittest\u2019 is a line that is pretty much synonymous with the theory of evolution. While the line does not appear even once in Darwin\u2019s book \u2018On the origin of species<\/a><\/span>\u2019, it does describe natural selection pretty accurately. The phrase emphasizes that those organisms that are best equipped for the environment in which they live have the biggest chance of surviving and reproducing. Thus spreading the \u2018fit\u2019 genes and leading to new generations of well-equipped organisms.<\/p>\n

But survival of the fittest isn\u2019t always happening the way you would expect. Oddly enough, when it comes to ideas, survival of the fittest can benefit weaker ideas. In organisations, survival of the fittest can be downright bad for innovation.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 would be a positive thing when it comes to some ideas prevailing over others. Only the best idea would remain, right? Unfortunately, this is not always what happens in an organisation. In organisations \u2018fittest\u2019 is often \u2018safest\u2019. Brilliant yet unusual ideas aren\u2019t always popular. Revolutionary \u2018scary\u2019 ideas are generally met with scepticism and opposition. Why rock the boat?<\/a><\/span> We have a good thing going on here. Don\u2019t try to change it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Safe ideas, on the other hand, are a lot less threatening to the status quo. You know exactly what will happen and not much will change. Unlike revolutionary ideas, safe ideas aren\u2019t usually met with criticism. In many organisations, it\u2019s the boring, yet safe ideas that are best suited for their environment. Where original ideas die, arguments for keeping everything the way it is will survive. Even if people understand change is needed, it\u2019s usually conservative ideas and small improvements that will outcompete truly creative initiatives.<\/p>\n

Prevent your organisation from going extinct<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not adapting to a changing world might seem \u2018safe\u2019 in the short run, but in the long run, it will lead to an organisation going down. A famous example of an organisation that perished because of conservatism is Kodak.<\/p>\n

Change is scary, but also necessary<\/h4>\n

Ironically, it was Kodak employees who invented the first digital camera in 1975. But instead of capitalising on this revolution in photography, Kodak decided not to pursue digital photography further. They were afraid digital photography would cannibalize on their existing business. The rest is history. Other companies filled the niche and Kodak never quite caught up. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2012.<\/p>\n

Safe is risky<\/a><\/span>. Don\u2019t be the dodo in your market. Adapt to changes, keep looking for better ways. Don\u2019t wait until the need for change becomes obvious. You might be too late. The dodo didn\u2019t have natural predators and had no need to fly or be wary of strange creatures getting close. Not a problem. Until humans entered the scene. The dodo had no time to adapt to this previously non-existent threat and it took humans (with a little help from their cats and stowaway rats) less than a century to completely decimate the dodo population.<\/p>\n

\"don't

Don’t be the dodo in your market.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Evolution is slow. It takes place over many generations and change doesn\u2019t occur if there is no direct benefit. If an extreme change happens too suddenly, species can\u2019t adapt quickly enough. A flying, fearful dodo would not have replaced the gullible land-bound dodos on Mauritius in the centuries before humans arrived. It had no advantage over non-flying fearless birds. In fact, flying would have been a waste of precious resources.<\/p>\n

Innovation is different. You can innovate even if there is no immediate reason to. Even if the way you do things is excellent, nothing keeps you from trying to find an even better way.<\/p>\n

But to give innovation a chance, especially when there seems to be no direct reason to change course, people should understand why change is beneficial. They should be included in the innovation process. Stakeholders should be asked to cooperate in generating new ideas. Those involved should be taken seriously. Only if there is a support base for change, innovation can succeed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Curious how HatRabbits helps organisations to find solutions with a broad support base? Or would you like to know how we can assist your organisation? Don\u2019t hesitate to contact us<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why you should be wary of \u2018best practises\u2019, how \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 can actually slow progress in an organisation and why \u2018playing it safe\u2019 can be uncannily risky…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1362,1360,1355,1358,1361],"class_list":["post-16297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-creativity","tag-best-practises","tag-dodo","tag-evolution","tag-survival-of-the-fittest","tag-survival-of-the-safest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe evolution of ideas - part two. 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