Artisans, Entrepreneurs and the call of the Wild...

image: National Geographic

Last Spring, while I was out walking I spotted another walker's Spaniel running after a startled rabbit kitten. It caught it, looked round puzzled, and then put it down when his/her owner shouted. The young rabbit looked vaguely puzzled, and then hopped off. If rabbits had fingers, I'm sure it might have used two of them for a salute.

I was reminded of this as I look at different reactions to the turbulent times we're in as both danger and opportunities appear, often at random. It strikes me that many employees have been effectively domesticated. The instincts might still be there, but the behaviours are not. Employees get confused when confronted with unexpected opportunity, and are more attuned to getting criticised for unexpected behaviours than nailing an unplanned opportunity. I guess it's compounded by the rafts of well meaning constraints, from various regulations, from health and safety to diversity and fear of legal sanction. It just becomes easier to…