Management fundas from… ahem…. a dog

All you ignorant management brutes (read students) out there, here’s something for you to ponder on and feel bad about.

Porter and Taylor followers, hear ye, there is something out there, some higher beings which can give you much better learning opportunities, without having to wade through those heavy slumber-inducing volumes of management.I am talking about learning it from dogs, yes, those four-legged canine buddies of man whom we turn to for affection, love and happiness.

Ardent dog-lovers, more often than not, love their canine companions like crazy.

I presume all of us are aware of the therapeutic effects of having pets around us. Even when we are deep down in the lowest of dumps, just a lick and a paw-push can make us come out from depression and make us feel that the world’s all right, after all.

Dogs are cute, they drool and bark, they yap, and sometimes just roll around.Now here’s some more good news about keeping dogs for company. Instead of poring over case studies we would do better to just look at dogs and learn from them. And besides learning, it’s fun too, as I am sure many would agree, and some like me would swear by.If dogs could make use of literary phrases, they would probably yawn whenever they come to hear the clichéd phrase: being ‘man’s best friend’. After reading this and putting to practice, you would probably say that they could very well don the role of man’s best teachers.After all, think about it: you never see dogs frowning, or stressed out, or sitting in mindlessly long meetings.

That’s why leaders can learn some new tricks from their pets, in particular stress-busting and being happy without any reason at all. Finding happiness is a natural talent for dogs, but it’s not so easy for the rest of us. They give us the lesson that we can be happy on our own, without any reason, without any fetters.I think it’s pretty obvious but I’ll state it anyway, “for people, joyful things rarely happen effortlessly.”

Megha Chaturvedi, a dear friend and ardent dog-lover, says “There’s nothing better than getting your pet jumping all over you after a tired day’s work. A lick on your face, a playful bite on your hands, their happiness is contagious. His tail wagging up in the air, the smile on his face from ear to ear, the need for your attention is all that you need when everyone appears uncharitable and the world has given you a rebuff.” Humans are not the only social animals here. Dogs are pack animals too. In order to manage dogs well we must pay close attention, understand their behaviour and provide them with the leadership they need.

They are excellent team workers. If you were to observe more than one dog coming within contact with each other, the group passes through the forming, storming, norming stages of group formation.They need a leader to help them understand their role in the pack or in the family. The same is true in case of employees in organizations and society. People in companies need and want great leadership without the tight leash. Training is, of course, an essential part of an organization’s work and of a doggie’s growing years. And contrary to popular perception, you can teach an old dog new tricks, albeit their picking-up is a bit on the slower side. My Doberman is 8 yrs. old, yet I have taught her many new ones, from basics of shaking hands to lying down in wait of food.You just have to provide the right incentive. Hardly different from a corporate situation.

Dogs give immediate feedback. Think about it. You know when dogs are happy with you. Their tails go wild with excitement at the simple act of you coming back home from outside. And you know when they aren’t- their tails go between their legs.That’s the best way to learn- if only we all received such immediate feedback in the workplace, imagine the growth we could experience, especially considering the kind of boost it would give to communication within the workplace and development of interpersonal skills.