Be wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Franklin D Roosevelt, 1933 Inaugural Address as President of the United States

Wisdom is an all too rare and invaluable commodity, like gold dust. In my view fear is by far our biggest enemy, the true great Satan. It is powerfully instinctive and is amplified neurologically by negative experiences. And it is constantly used by the unscrupulous to control and manipulate others.

This blog suggests some ideas for adapting to these harsh realities and producing better outcomes, health, fulfilment and happiness in our organisations, our relationships and our lives.

__________________________________________________________________

The two blogs I published last week, How the brain works and why you should know and Why genuine selflessness is good business, explored crucial neurological insights from a seminar I attended two weeks ago led by Dr Bruce D Perry, Senior Fellow at the ChildTrauma Academy in Houston TX and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr Perry’s Neurological Model of Therapeutics (NMT) uses an understanding of the 4 level hierarchy of the brain to develop and apply effective psychotherapeutic interventions with children who have been severely damaged emotionally through ill-treatment. His work is highly respected globally by professionals working in the field of child trauma, neglect and abuse.

Today I want to build on these insights and talk about wisdom, which according to Wikipedia is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. It goes on to say that wisdom:

“involves an understanding of people, things, events, situations, and the willingness as well as the ability to apply perception, judgement, and action in keeping with the understanding of what is the optimal course of action. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions (the "passions") so that the universal principle of reason prevails to determine one's action. In short, wisdom is a disposition to find the truth coupled with an optimum judgement as to what actions should be taken in order to deliver the correct outcome.”

The scientific term for modern humans is homo sapiens, ‘sapiens’ meaning ‘wise’ in Latin. Sadly of course this term cannot be applied absolutely, but only by comparison with earlier hominids.

Scientists estimate that primates have been on earth for 65 million years. 4-8 million years ago our own biochemistry began to diverge from that of our nearest relative, the chimpanzee, with whom we share between 95% and 99% of DNA sequences. According to Dr Perry homo sapiens, the hominid capable of making reasoned decisions and having abstract thoughts, only appeared around 250,000 years ago. Only within the last 5,000 years or so have sophisticated human civilisations appeared – the last 8 thousandths (0.008%) of our entire existence so far.

All of this should be cause for profound humility. Our lives and self-awareness need to be seen in this context and also against the vast spans of time yet to come for the human race, assuming we don’t destroy ourselves and our planet. This is a shattering challenge to how we see ourselves, since for the majority of us to be alive is to feel instinctively that everything revolves around us, our perspectives and narrow tribalisms.

Indeed the scientific facts about our prehistory as primates are so threatening to some people’s existential world view that they dispute them altogether, though the evidence is overwhelming if we make the effort and open our minds to the body of scientific knowledge that already exists.

However, I am no Richard Dawkins (the British evolutionary biologist who rabidly denounces religion and God), arguing that there is no place for anything fluffier and more ethereal than cold, brutal, scientific reality. We are just as naively arrogant if we think current scientific knowledge tells us everything as we are if we bury our heads in the sand and ignore it. After all, as Dr Perry says, neuroscientists estimate that we have come only 2” (5 cm) so far in a 1 mile (1.6 km) journey to understand the brain. And that’s just the brain – what about the small matter of the rest of the universe?!

I believe the essence of wisdom is found and nurtured by recognising and accepting crucial and sometimes inconvenient or uncomfortable truths:

• We must constantly expect our brainstems to hijack us because they are programmed to do so! Only once this inevitable ‘knee-jerk’ reaction has passed and been intelligently managed can we employ our gradually increasing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight to take better decisions and actions. However the compelling fact that this fear is hard-wired into our primitive brains makes the challenge of overcoming it extremely difficult, and for many of us well-nigh impossible, especially when we have been subject to previous maltreatment or betrayal, which hyper-sensitises our instincts, as Dr Perry explains.
• We must expect the same primeval response in all other human beings, including our rivals, competitors, enemies and others whom we disagree with or distrust. This should never surprise or wrong-foot us, yet invariably it does and keeps resulting in heartache or catastrophe, generation after generation. As Mark Knopfler so movingly put it in Dire Straits’ totemic 1985 anthem we are all brothers (and sisters) in arms.
• We must embrace the multiple paradoxes of life – the reality that two or more seemingly contradictory sets of information may each be true - instead of insisting on adopting intellectually, emotionally and/or spiritually lazy, narrow-minded positions.
• Uncertainty is the natural adult state for humans. If we accept that it can be surprisingly liberating!
• Most 'rational' argument is a colossal waste of time and energy since it remains blissfully ignorant of these uncomfortable realities! This partly explains why most of us are cynical about our leaders, whether in democractic politics, by definition a superficial popularity contest, or in any other aspect of life. Very few leaders are both genuine in their intentions, and sufficiently skilled and allowed by circumstances to connect with people effectively and make a substantial postiive impact.

So here’s a kind of wisdom manifesto based on knowledge and understanding of what great individuals, leaders and organisations do differently from everyone else:

• First understand, acknowledge and act seriously upon the fears and threats felt by others, including your enemies and opponents, whilst also recognising the limitations and not over-promising like the gentleman in the photo above did 3-4 years ago when he said he would drastically reduce levels of UK net inward migration. These fears and threats will primarily dictate people's actions, not your beliefs and arguments. No amount of cleverness or determination will change this; hence there are so often unintended consequences that should have been foreseen and/or avoided.
• Challenge all stereotypes and prejudices, within yourself and others. Always be deeply mistrustful of the universal habit of (over-)simplifying concepts and arguments, and those who peddle such inanities.
• Do not be swayed by the force of other people’s arguments and personalities, since however sophisticated and even rational they may sound their opinions are often fuelled by the uncontrolled and unwarranted response of their primitive brains to threats. In other words have the courage to think and act for yourself whenever possible rather than being swept along on the tide.
• Recognise that the vast majority of us have far more in common than what divides us, and that much of what divides us is illusory, but much else is stimulating, educational and allows us to grow by exposure to it. The true division within humanity is between those who have humility, compassion, sensitivity to others, open minds and a desire to improve on the one hand, and those who don’t give a damn on the other.
• Also recognise that the vast majority of us essentially want broadly the same things, and that emotional, social and spiritual returns are far more rewarding and enduring to most human psyches than material or monetary gratification. Neuroscience confirms this – our brains have been programmed for millennia to require a much simpler, communal existence. That is not to say that wealth is wrong, but that the exclusive, selfish pursuit of it is. What matters is not how much money anyone has, but how they think and behave - their character - because that is what all of us respond to emotionally. Many wealthy people dedicate themselves in whole or in part to using their resources to make a positive difference, whereas others hoard their wealth, abuse the power it gives them, and crave ever more. On Tuesday evening I sat at a dinner table with Philip Blonde, founder and Director of radical political think-tank ResPublica (www.respublica.org,uk), listening intently as he explained how the grotesquely distorted distribution of wealth in all countries fuels chronic individual, corporate and public debt for the vast majority (the ‘have-nots’) such that they will never achieve financial security, no matter how hard they try. Our primitive brains cannot and will not accept this injustice indefinitely, and the consequences will no doubt once again be catastrophic. But the don’t-give-a-damns don’t give a damn because they’re either oblivious, they think they’ll get away with it, or they think it won’t happen on their watch.
• Study ideas and research into exceptional people and exceptional organisations, in every walk of life. Hunger for knowledge, but especially knowledge of people and how they tick.
• Take a genuine interest in people and constantly look for ways in which you can help them. Adam Grant, voted by students as Wharton Business School’s top professor though still only 33, published a superb, inspirational book last year called ‘Give and Take’ which analysed the power of this approach in business.
• Be yourself and behave with integrity. Aim to leave a positive legacy behind you wherever you go and whatever you do. Don’t seek the limelight – seek instead to make any organisation or group you’re involved in more successful without seeking credit for doing so or for whatever successes materialise.

I titled this blog ‘Be wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove’ The famous phrase comes from Matthew’s Gospel (10:16). It’s irrelevant whether or not you are a Christian - Jesus’s words are invaluable and wise. Firstly they contain a paradox – how on earth can you both be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove? Secondly as with many of Jesus’s sayings there is deeper meaning that needs to be understood, and thirdly there is a context that also needs to be recognised.

Matthew attributes these words to Jesus when he was encouraging (literally – giving courage to) his disciples to go out into the world and spread his message.

Jesus knew that his disciples would encounter hostility and ridicule – indeed some of them and thousands who followed would pay for their faith with their lives. Many still do. The full verse is "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves". (King James Bible). This graphically illustrates the risks involved – sheep would normally be savaged by wolves. However, what Jesus meant was that his disciples would be protected (to a great degree, though never entirely) if they were as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves.

The meaning of the verse is somewhat different from popular understanding, and it is crucial.

• Surprisingly just 1% of snakes are venomous and they only spit poison or bite when cornered. However they are extremely adept at keeping themselves concealed and escaping dangerous situations rapidly. In other words they choose their fights very carefully and only when the situation is on their terms. Those who are hunters are of course devastatingly effective in locating and killing their prey.
• By ‘harmless’ or ‘innocent’ Jesus meant ‘inoffensive’ – in other words non-threatening. He was telling his disciples to be emotionally sensitive and appealing. To do this they would have to get on people’s wavelength and empathise with them.

In that context hopefully this blog can prompt your thinking on how to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

Someone reminded me this week (thanks Jorgen) that the principle that Charles Darwin discovered in evolution of the survival of the fittest is in fact the survival of the best adapted. It seems to me that building our lives on principles of wisdom long-established across most cultures and belief systems, and beautifully aligned with our neurology, is the best chance we've got.

__________________________________________________________________

I’m grateful you’ve taken the time to read this post. If you find it helpful please share it. And make a difference - be a smart giver and do something positive for others this week. Pay it forward.

Recent blogs you may find helpful include:

Leadership - can you master it?

High business growth - gold at the end of the rainbow?

10 reasons to stick your neck out!

Do you ever think you've got it tough?

How the brain works and why you should know

Was Tesco's Terry Leahy really such a great leader?

Stop your company's demons coming back to haunt you

Do organisations thrive without the 'old timers'?

If this blog is particularly relevant to you, your organisation, or to someone else you know, I may be able to help or advise. I strive to be a smart giver – Adam Grant’s excellent book “Give and Take” (2013) explains why smart givers are the highest 25% of achievers in all walks of life. They go out of their way to help others, intelligently, without allowing themselves to be widely exploited. In this way they inspire higher performance and create sustained new value through collaborative exchange.

The business I lead, Resolve Gets Results (RGR), provides hands-on leadership, management, problem solving, customer/market development, sales and fundraising capabilities to companies with long-term growth potential.  I'm also actively involved in Linked2Success (L2S), a business which helps clients to use social media intelligently to build professional relationships and grow.  RGR and L2S work together as a single team to leverage the benefits of our respective skill sets, giving tremendous business value to far-sighted clients..

I work with a superb small team of Board-level professionals, each a leader in their field with over 30 years’ business experience. We are based in the UK but have international business backgrounds, in my case including 5 years in the United States, where I ran a high growth machinery sales and service business.

You can find my contact details under the ‘Contact info’ tab near the top of my LinkedIn profile.

Mark Ashton