Be a Dolphin
Be a Dolphin
So, You Can Swim with the Sharks
William Sommers
“It’s not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you that determines the quality of your experience”
Kordis & Lynch
In the 90s, I read Dudley Lynch and Paul L. Kordis’s Strategy of the Dolphin, and the current situations cause me to return to what I learned then as a metaphor for my thinking now. I acknowledge Bruce Wellman for recommending this book; Mahalo Bruce. In times of chaos, conflict, and change, the 3 Fs, Fight, Flight, or Freeze, seem to happen consistently. I will add a fourth element: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Appease.
The short version – Organizations and life swim in a pool. There are Sharks, Carp, Pseudo-Enlightened Carp, and Dolphins. (The plural of carp is carp. My friend Connie Lewis told me). Sharks eat carp and the pseudo-enlightened carp first, because they are easy prey. Sharks do not eat Dolphins. Dolphins are very intelligent.
Sharks know only one way to do things…go straight ahead, eat whatever is in the way, and don’t back up. Dolphins survive by swimming around the side of a shark and cave their rib cage. Hmmm. Can you think of any lessons from this?
In any pool there are sharks, carp, pseudo-enlightened carp, and dolphins.
- Carp are bottom dwellers and often are victims. “Nothing I can do!”
- Pseudo-Enlightened Carp talk a good game, but acquiesce with little pressure.
- Sharks play a zero-sum game: My way or I will eat you.
- Dolphins are smart and can outmaneuver direct attacks.
I highly, did I say highly, recommend that you read Strategy of the Dolphin by Kordis & Lynch and The Friction Project by Sutton & Rao.
Je me debrouille.
(I get by, I manage, I improvise)
Zaire metaphor
Dolphin brains are somewhat larger on average than the typical human brain; the associational cortex, the part of the brain specialized for abstract and conceptual thinking, is larger than humans. Dolphins are deadly to sharks because they are smarter, they don’t bite them – they circle and ram, eventually crushing the shark’s ribs.
We describe dolphins as:
- They thrive in a tough environment.
- They are constantly observing the landscape and reading the currents.
- They swim well in any ocean, float in any current, and dive in any pool.
- They take action, collaborate – or act competently alone.
- They Think Positively. They focus on what they can do.
“You know dolphins are near if you are making progress when progress long since should have ceased.”
A more elaborate description is outlined in the book.
- Carp lives in the victim corner of the triangle.
- PEC (pseudo-enlightened carp) always believe the best, even when getting eaten.
- Sharks believe I will succeed by force and intimidation. They either take-over or trade off. They eventually run out of victims and try to eat whatever is left.
- Dolphins believe in resourcefulness and abundance, and they are flexible.
John Carse, in his book, Finite and Infinite Games states: “Finite players play within boundaries; infinite players play with boundaries. The rules of a finite game may not change; the rules of an infinite game must change.”
There is a Chinese Proverb: It is easier to stay out than get out. Dolphins stay out of situations that are time consuming and show little, if any, progress.
Carp always “die” first because they don’t discriminate among players. Pseudo-enlightened carp also die since the see things as always positive and may misread a physical or emotional threat.
Dolphins are survivors. They know how to leverage their knowledge and skills to gain specific results. “If it isn’t working, try something else.”
Two tenets that caused me pause to think:
- The Bannister Effect – Once Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile, others quickly followed.
- The Wallenda Effect – Walking the tightrope was living; when Karl Wallenda switched to trying not to fall, he fell and died.
What concerns me most is a quote by Arnold Toynbee: “Civilizations die of suicide, not by murder.” The enemy can be within. Walt Kelly’s Pogo probably was correct: “We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us.”
I often think in terms of Canaries, Trim Tabs, and Attractors:
- Canaries – A canary in the coal mine is an advanced warning of potential danger. Who do you look to, or what do you see as harbingers of what’s to come? There are people who have an intuitive sense of issues to deal with before data confirms it. I hope you are one of those people
- Trim Tabs – Ocean liners use trim tabs to move the large rudders; this takes less energy and has large effects. What are the small productive actions you can take that can change the existing course.
- Attractors – The 11th tradition in AA is “be a program of attraction, not promotion.” Most of us have been sold an idea, a resource, or training that did not prove to be helpful. What do you do to attract people to a positive vision rather than selling a solution based on a limited “n”?
Life consists of constant mid-course corrections since we can never know what exactly is going to happen. As Charles Duhigg, in the Power of Habit, and Marshall Goldsmith, in his book Triggers, write that you don’t control the triggers or cues, the only control you have is how you respond, the routines that you have acquired to deal with sudden change or a surprise.
Sutton and Rao, in their book, Project Friction say – “Focus on Fixing Things, Not Who to Blame.”
Articles were written about the Apollo Mission when we went to the moon. The spacecraft was off course about 80% of the time. Mid-course corrections are almost always needed and when dealing with humans, many times very important. The more repertoire you have acquired to manage changes, the better prepared you are to navigate personal and professional issues.
I am constantly reminded of General Eric Shinseki’s quote:
“If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.”
Dolphins of the world – UNITE!
We Can Do This
References
Carse, John. (1986). Finite and infinite games. New York: Ballantine Books.
Duhigg, Charles. (2012). The Power of Habit. New York: Random House
Goldsmith, Marshall. (2015). Triggers. New York: Crown
Lynch, Dudley, and Kordis, Paul. (1988). Strategy of the Dolphin. New York: Fawcett Columbine Book, 1988.
Sutton, Robert & Rao, Huggy. (2024). The Friction Project. New York: St. Martin’s Press.