PR Agency Advice: Survival of the Friendliest

Everything you need to learn about creating a corporate culture in the modern age you can learn from a type of ape called bonobos.

I learned this from a book about dogs.

Did you know that we share 98.7% of our DNA with bonobos?

I know I didn’t.

Kumbaya:
Traditionally, as a species, when we’ve looked at Bonobos or any other kind of animal, we tend to concentrate on our differences. But bonobos look for commonality.

Bonobo Handshake:
When Brian Hare and his wife, Vanessa Woods, went to study bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they were not perceived as a threat by the bonobos. In fact, the great apes welcomed them as visitors. They event entrusted the strangers to play with their children.

And when it came time to leave, the most senior bonobo “looked deep into our eyes, took each of our hands, held it in her own, and shook it in a gentle goodbye.”

You read that right.

A handshake.

Play Nice:
There is way less aggression in the bonobo culture compared to chimpanzees and other apes, and Hare raises the fascinating point that we tend to equate survival of the fittest to “survival of the meanest.”

But in the case of bonobos it has come down to a case of “survival of the friendliest.”

Bonobos live in a peaceful society:
The females are in charge, war is nonexistent, and males can get all the sex they want – as long as they play nice.

Now, obviously, I’m not suggesting you turn your office into some sort of Roman orgy, but the principle is the same: getting what you want and being the nice guy aren’t mutually exclusive in the Bonobos society and they shouldn’t be in your office either.

In fact, it’s necessary to attracting the best talent in the next generation. The smartest investment you can make is in a creating a strong office culture.

Teamwork and Cooperative Tasks:
According to Mr. Hare, being much more friendly and tolerant than our other closest living relatives, chimpanzees, has also given bonobos a special intelligence. They are better able to solve a range of cooperative tasks.

Feel familiar? Cooperation, collaboration…you’re probably hearing an awful lot about that in your own office. It’s a shift away from “survival of the meanest.”

It’s about time:
Meetings shouldn’t be run by bullies and the loudest voice in the room doesn’t usually belong to the smartest person.

Hearing from a variety of generations and positions is also critical to preventing group-think.

Relationships and Commonality:
It’s all about relationships and finding points of commonality – and that’s critical in a business community that is increasingly global.

When Hare and his wife arrived at a bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo the bonobos immediately made friends with them – even though they were strangers and potential threats. Most animals would bolt. Or attack. The bonobo, for lack of a better expression, started up a dialogue.

And by the time they left they had been profoundly changed by these great apes. So much so that Hare wishes more people could discover what they can teach us about human nature. “I really think they are the smartest ape in the world,” he has said. “We have a lot to learn from them.”

A book about dogs that mentioned apes taught me:
The best creative teams are the ones that respect the people around them. Putting the team first, communicating openly, encouraging any and all suggestions and a real commitment to listening to them can only garner positive results.