Quotable Quotes: Charles Darwin
by Miki Saxon
Charles Darwin is best know for his Theory of Evolution and his amazing work in that field, but much of that work applies equally well to business—only not in the generally accepted way.
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” (Time to think and dream does not count as waste.)
“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” (As companies who promoted closed systems learned—to their detriment and eventual extinction.)
“…it is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance.” (Which, one can but hope, our fearless corporate leaders will do in the future, since it a prerequisite for the next thought…)
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” (Change. Maybe that can include a focus on something other than short-term and ‘maximizing shareholder value’. Wall Street, are you listening?)
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November 30th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Darwin also said, “Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly any one is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.”
So we should be so heartless that we strip all weakness out of the workplace rather than take the time to help our employees ‘evolve’?
November 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Douglas, and adding a stimulating dimension to the quotes.
The answer to your question is no, no, emphatically no, absolutely not!
The great majority of people produce to the quality of their manager. If they have weaknesses (heh, that includes all of us), then it’s managers’ responsibility to work with them to evolve and become all that they can. Managers who opt to hire/fire/hire as a way to a productive group are who should be stripped out.
November 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Agreed, Miki! I believe the toughest job (and greatest talent) of a leader is the ability to push their people in a direction where their weaknesses are avoided and into the direction of their strengths.
I just thought I’d add to the conversation since Darwin is equated with survival of the fittest. Too often, I see leaders excuse themselves by blaming the ‘weak’ in the herd rather than holding themselves accountable.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hi Douglas, I don’t think I agree that “the ability to push their people in a direction where their weaknesses are avoided and into the direction of their strengths.” I think that great leaders/managers/parents encourage areas of strength and offer assistance and encouragement in developing area of weakness, not in avoiding or ignoring them.
I do vehemently agree with you that too many ‘leaders’ hold themselves not accountable and everybody else accountable for anything that goes wrong!