I often ask groups of people “If this organization was a collection of animals instead of people, which assortments of animals are you most like?”
…“Would you be a Circus, a Zoo, a Jungle or a Farm?”
The Circus
People who see their organization as a Circus tell stories about a well trained menagerie of different creatures who have to perform un-natural activities, like jumping through hoops for their supper.
They are continually shifted around and live in a confusing, chaotic world of flashing lights and loud noises.
The Zoo
The people who see themselves as working in a Zoo talk about being imprisoned in a highly regulated welfare jail, where boredom is the greatest killer.
There’s no pressure to perform, but it’s difficult to find meaning in their existence.
The Jungle
Survival battles characterise companies that feel like a Jungle.
They keep the inhabitants alert, but it’s an exhausting life, and not much real work gets done.
It’s very unpredictable.
The Farm
The workplaces that seem like a Farm are rare.
The people who see their organizations as an agricultural institution often feel used and abused.
They are continually measured and monitored and they know that the system will eventually consume them.
The Pharma Question
Which brings us to the question…..If Pharma was a collection of animals, would it be a Circus, a Zoo, a Jungle or a Farm ?
What does it feel like to work in the Pharmaceutical Industry?
Do employees boast about their work at dinner parties?
Is theirs a confusing and chaotic world?
Some think Pharma is an over-regulated industry, operating like a cross between a Farm and a Zoo.
(See: Overdose: ‘How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation’, by Richard A. Epstein. New Haven, CT: Yale University)
Others see Pharma as a Jungle, ‘red in tooth and claw’ where survival of the fittest rules the thinking.
Pharma’s history of predatory mergers and takeovers might make you think it’s a dog eat dog industry.
When exactly the reverse might be true?
The Animal Kingdom of Your Dreams
Perhaps the real question would be:
“What kind of organization would Pharma’s leadership like to create?
Should it adopt an Orgware that allows it to align itself with the world we are moving into?
Or would it be wiser to adopt armadillo thinking?
The Armadillo has some interesting attributes.
They have poor vision, they don’t like to share, they roll up into a ball when threatened, and they are the last surviving family in the order Cingulata.
Now, does that remind you of anyone?
(Tomorrow’s Blog: Pharma – ‘Built to Specifications’)
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