Humans are a MESSS - And that's a good thing.

Over the last month, I've been involved in resolving no less than seven strategic problems, ranging from high-stakes mergers and acquisitions to talent discussions, to debilitating family feuds, threatening to rip loved ones apart from one another at the seams. While each of these problems has its own unique realities, they are remarkably similar in the fact that they all revolve around human nature and human behavior at a very primal level. It turns out that no matter how modern and sophisticated we think we are in this digital age, we are still very much a primal mess.

In my book, Nobody is Coming to Save You, I introduce a concept known as the Human Operating System. This is a framework foundational to my leadership approach that reconnects us to our human nature and reminds us that as Adam Gazzali, author of The Distracted Mind, says "We are still very much ancient brains trying to make sense of a high-tech world."

A big reason for it is we have completely moved away from our human nature. We have become immersed and entangled in a digital realm that is so far removed from the natural world that the innate drivers of our primal state are literally invisible to us.

The metaphor I use is an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is the modern world. It's where we live, work, and play. It's the budget meetings, the Zoom calls, and getting the kids to soccer practice. It's also the modern problems of supply chain shortage, inflation, and quiet quitting. It can seem all-consuming and that it is all there is to our existence, but I would submit that this modern world is only about 250-years-old and comprises only about 10- 20% of our human nature.

Below the waterline is the rest of our human nature. It represents the more traditional and ancient part of our existence. Its origins come from the status societies we all hail from, where our ancestors were hunters and gatherers and members of tribes. In so many ways, we are not that far removed from the traditional world. It is still very much with us, as Jared Diamond reminds us in The World Until Yesterday. In fact, we are far more traditional than we are modern. I like to say that we are still Neanderthals who just happen to dress a little better. Well, most of us do, but I'm working on it.

What's below the waterline is also part of our human nature. In fact, I believe it's a much larger part of our human nature. It represents 80-90% of who we are at a primal level. And while it may be invisible, it is no less real and impactful on each one of us and how we navigate the world.

The danger is that we've lost conscious connection to it. Therefore, it acts on us rather than us acting on it. I believe this helps explain why we see so many inappropriate outbursts around elections, traffic altercations, and seemingly benign opinions that cause the other party to go high order, unfriend us on social media, and even resort to violence. I call it "Shadow Tribalism" - Tribal behavior acting on us, subconsciously. Very dangerous indeed.

That separation from our human nature caused by blue screens, hyper transactional focus and a relentless entanglement with technology are overloading our ancient brains and causing us to lose the connection to ourselves and our innate drivers of behavior. They act on us in ways that are negative and inappropriate for first world problems in a society of abundance. And if left unchecked, can create a culture of shadow tribalism where feud, shame, and vengeance are the orders of the day and the more positive aspects of our primal nature around human connection, relationships, and storytelling fade away.

Over the next several months, I'd like to explore the human operating system in this newsletter so that we might reconnect with it, reawaken its innate value, and leverage it as both lenses in how we see our behavior and those around us, as well as levers we can pull for authentic influence in this time of churn and division.

What do you think? Does any of this resonate with you? Do you feel this separation from our human nature when you reflect on it? Do you notice the shadow tribalism in yourself and others? ?Let me know your thoughts on this because it's an important conversation we need to have.

And if you haven't picked up a copy of Nobody is Coming to Save You, it's a great primer and deep dive for this very important focus at a time when division and distrust threaten every goal we have. I'm honored to be on this journey with you and I look forward to next month when we kick of our MESSSY conversation with Meaning and how it relates to your arena.

I'll see you on the Rooftop!

Scott Mann