Myths and their application in business

Many of my contacts know that I am fascinated by Ancient history. From exploring the Ancient pagan pantheons, I shifted to learning about the Greek philosophers. My discovery of Epicureanism and Stoicism shaped my mindset. The Stoic idea of not being bothered by things that are out of control was especially helpful during Covid-19.

Recently, I saw how much we can apply ancient myths as analogies in business life. And I want to give some examples for it.

Pandoras Box: Everyone must have encountered some of the following patterns. Some old regulation has been put in place years ago. People have gotten used to the regulation. It is in many ways problematic, but somehow it works. People are also aware that the chosen solution is not optimal, but the moment one starts to change it, all might fall apart. I have seen this in IT with Legacy Architecture. Some application that has been created many years ago - and the responsible people are long gone - is still working the way it should. The moment programmers start changing it, everything seems to fall apart. It becomes a "never touch a running system"-case. Another example is organizations. Often some processes are designed to keep everyone happy. To grow, you would need to change them. But changing also means taking some privileges away. With every change, you trigger debates and in the end, nobody will be happy. So this decision becomes a pandora's box.

Damocles Sword: The Damocles sword is a sword hanging above you and that may anytime fall and hurt or even kill you. I have seen companies working in critical environments without any quality assurance. The moment one thing goes wrong, it can create problems. I saw companies that had a single point of failure. Sometimes it was software, mostly it was employees with rare knowledge. Sometimes, the absence of that person can cause issues. Or imagine someone working without a license. It may work for a while, but in the end, it can end in a disaster and it can strike you any time.

Gordian Knot: Sometimes some problems are so complex that it seems that no one can solve them. Sometimes the best is simply to remove the problem as a whole without getting into details. Might not work always, but it can be taken as a reference.

Sisyphus: Sisyphus was a figure in Greek mythology who had to do a very boring task of rolling a stone up a hill. Once he finished his goal, the stone rolled back and he had to restart again. We all have many examples of our work that feels like Sisyphus's work.

King Midas: The story about the king that turns everything to gold what he touches. In the end, he had to starve. Some people are so successful that they often lose touch. King Midas can be seen as such a reference.

Trojan Horse: We know trojans from malicious software. But hiring decisions can also sometimes seen as getting a trojan horse in. Some people create a toxic environment and destroy a company from the inside.

Achilles Heel: Every company has its weak spot. If you hit the Achilles Heel of a company, you might destroy it. Think of the one engineer that has knowledge about a lot of things as a single person. If he leaves, the company is in trouble.

Odyssee: Sometimes companies are on an Odysee. They are might have a goal but they are lost at sea.

The sirens: The sirens are figures who drive seamen mad. Sometimes, we have sirens in a company office

Icarus: Icarus was the son of the Daedalus who built wings to fly. He flows to close to the sun and the wax melted and Icarus fell down to earth. Some people are like Icarus. They challenge their fate and fall deep.

Narcissus: We all know Narcissists. If they are our colleagues, we mostly do not enjoy this.

Ariadne thread: The Ariadne thread was used by a hero to find his way out of a labyrinth

Phyrrus Victory: It is not a myth, but a historical motive. A greek king won a battle against the romans, but the battle was so costly that he later lost the war.

What is your favorite myth?