Without Thinking: Long-shots, DAR, and Transformations

Lessons from Mamoudou Gassama. Series 1 (of 3)

Picture yourself taking a walk through a very familiar street: coffee shops, high-rise apartments, all familiar - your walk is “on automatic”. You’re absorbing the daily delicious whiff from the nearby bakery; suddenly...something starts to smell and feel a little different. You sense a bit of chaos, you feel the heat, you look up to the high-rise flats, the same ones that you’ve walked past at least a hundred times, and you see several flats are engulfed in flames. The flames rage, and in a split second, as you’ve barely pieced the scenes and senses together, you can hear a toddler crying, the toddler is several floors up - everything is unfolding quickly. What is your instinctive next reaction? Take a pause, think about it:

A. Try to run/climb up the stairs, towards the flames to save the baby 

B. Move away from the fire, call 911 or your local rescue service

C. Freeze

D. Run away or stand close by and raise the alarm

Whether you select A, B, C, or D there’s no morally wrong answer. 

On May 26, 2018, Mamoudou Gassama, a Malian-French citizen found himself in a situation just like this.The fire, the flats, the toddler - everything was real. The flames were raging. The toddler and others caught in it almost stood no chance of surviving. What was Mamoudou's reaction?  

Without thinking, Mamoudou climbed four stories on the outside block of flats of the 18th arrondissement of Paris and saved the toddler. The key phrase “without thinking”. This all happened within 30 seconds! Mamoudou being in the right place, at the right time, influenced the sequence of events that changed the trajectory of what was an almost certain fatal outcome to a long-shot. Mamourdou’s instincts and actions ensured a long-shot outcome was achieved - a toddler saved! 

According to the account of events on the 28th of May edition of the Guardian newspaper, and the footage of his interview after the rescue, Mamoudou said “I saw all these people shouting, and cars sound their horns. I climbed up like that…”

 A few days later, Mamoudou was honored and granted French citizenship for his heroic act. 

A deeper assessment of the event reveals some themes:

1. Collective Good: Several people took action, some of which was for the collective good - sounding their horns, several others were reported to be screaming, at least one person called the fire service. 
2. Diversity in Reaction: The actions or reactions were diverse and most likely with the same positive intent - to reduce fatalities and deal with the fire. Most people were likely trying to help in some shape or form.
3. Optimal Reaction: The reaction, either collectively or individually, was primarily driven by the instinctive leanings that then manifested via the individual’s physical capabilities. In Mamoudou’s case, he had the physical capability to climb up but what was more critical was his inbuilt instincts to run towards the fire or danger (or in his case, literally climb up into the fire). 

Ultimately, the combination of Mamoudou’s instinctive reaction and capabilities was what singled him out as an outlier - the hero and rightly so. 

In spite of Mamoudou’s heroic act, the 2018 fire still claimed eight lives. Mamoudou alone couldn’t rescue everyone, and by the time the fire department arrived at the scene, it was too late for eight other lives. 

What if - we had two, three, nine “Mamoudous” at the scene? Just enough people whose group instinctive leanings (i.e., their actions “without thinking”) led to life-saving outcomes for the unlucky eight? Whatever the case, there’s an argument to be made about the benefits of understanding the pros and cons of the Default Adaptive Response (DAR) as a subset of group behavior. 

From Individual to Community:

The animal kingdom offers a template to define and understand the instinctive leanings at the group level. For example, there are observable archetypal consequences of different types of instinctive reactions judged along the fight to flight spectrum. When a tortoise senses something unfamiliar or threatening, it recedes into its bubble ready-made dome-shaped shell. Other animals like hedgehogs or porcupines also take this protective flight approach when faced with perceived predatory risk. On the other hand, the Bombardier Beetle’s default response to predatory risk is to fight (a relatively different approach than the tortoise) to achieve the same goal: self-preservation, protection, or threat response. The biological name for this phenomenon is anti-predator adaptation.

We too, as animals, are equally bound to the inherent rules and laws that govern the highly complex systems around us; however, we have less control and awareness over our instinctual intents, actions, and consequent outcomes than we might think.

Default Adaptive Response: What is it ?

We exhibit built-in tendencies in response to risk and opportunity not only at the individual level but also at the group level within human systems - like businesses and communities. We have coined the phrase - “Default Adaptive Response” or “DAR” to capture this group-level equivalent of anti-predator adaptation in the animal world. DAR would represent the Mamoudou act had most people in Paris responded in the same way - if that was the norm rather than a heroic exception. In other words, DAR is a community’s natural tendency or approach to dealing with risk and opportunity. The DAR can be boiled down to “the default way that we perceive risk and opportunity and our instinctive reaction towards them.” A business or community’s DAR plays a significant role in its long-term survival and is consequential to its short and medium-term outcomes whether in the pursuit of intentional goal or unintentional end states. Therefore, awareness of your group’s DAR or where it is on a fight to flight spectrum is critical to the success of any transformation or long-shot endeavor. 

2036: Innovation Race

For decades, several cities worldwide have tried and failed to supplant or replicate the world’s topmost innovation ecosystem, that is, San Francisco. A few cities like London, New York, and Boston have come close by focusing on niche areas/industries. In spite of the commendable strides made by cities like London, Tokyo, Boston, these cities lag in one or two key areas to offer a balanced, end-to-end ecosystem like San Francisco. Looking ahead 15 years into the future, if you were to picture yourself living in the city that prides itself as the world’s top innovation ecosystem, do you picture San Francisco, London, Lagos or Austin ? The answer to this question may well be playing out right now. 

In Canada, Toronto has held on to the top spot in terms of the maturity of its ecosystems and the effectiveness of its system in enabling innovators and solutions. I am of the opinion that Toronto will likely maintain its lead in Canada, but several other Canadian cities are investing and betting on being one of Canada’s topmost innovation ecosystems. In 2036, Calgary, Alberta or Halifax, Nova Scotia - which of these two cities is likely to emerge as a Canadian engine for innovation, creativity, and venture investment? What does the DAR of these cities predict?

To Be Continued (series 2)...

About the Authors: Isaiah and Dylan are Thought Collaborators of the Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman inspiration. Dylan Smibert is an Organizational Psychology Doctoral Candidate and founder of Altruistic Current. Isaiah Olateru is an Opex Leader and Design Engineer with a passion for people and transformations. This article is shared in our capacity as Thought Collaborators and individuals.