Remember the movie ‘The Hangover’ when Alan talks about his ‘wolf pack’? Here’s a quick reminder: ‘You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack [but]…my wolf pack – it grew… the four of us wolves, running around the desert together in Las Vegas.’ Of course, in Alan’s case no one wanted to be part of his wolf pack. Although in the end they all were, thanks to the power of collaboration skills.
There is a powerful case for a strong group of closely connected friends, family or colleagues. There is a collective sense that together, with collaboration skills, you can achieve just about anything.
Recent studies (2012) of real life wolf packs at the Department of Wildlife, University of Texas have demonstrated that the social aspects of pack life are actually not that dissimilar to the skills we use as humans. They are socially driven and lead to problem solving, resilient behaviours in the face of adverse conditions and enhanced communication. Social intelligence theory identifies a range of traits in packs of wolves that also apply to our very own human versions: peer groups, organisational teams and families.
Here are 7 wolf pack social intelligence and collaboration skills we can apply to our own personal and professional lives:
1. Recognition
In wolf packs, recognition of group members is paramount to their survival. In human terms, social acceptance of diverse groups can create high value in terms of divergent thinking, new cultural perspectives and fresh ideas. Ensure that any business group you are involved in works to be inclusive of all members to harness the full potential of the pack.
2. Social Memory
Wolves have an inherent respect for more experienced pack members. They understand that the ‘history’ of these members brings with it wisdom, skills and knowledge. Explore your team environments and build affiliations with those who can help you to tap into the bigger picture. Consider how you may need to modify your own behaviour and communication in these social contexts to make the most of these respect and knowledge-driven relationships.
3. Application of Social Knowledge and Collaboration Skills
Collaboration is king in the pack. When hunting, wolves will wear down their prey with a carefully coordinated strategy of pursuit and tracking. They will feed together at sources where food is bountiful in anticipation of leaner times. They work to solve social problems in diverse ways, nurturing the strong and protecting the weak. Although they observe hierarchies, they are able as a social network to adapt to changing external conditions. Consider how you work or play in this social context. Are you making the most of the resources around you and could you use your collaboration skills more?
4. Repair of Damaged Relationships
Reconciliation of conflict is essential for the strength of the pack. Furthermore it is necessary for the survival of those in conflict. By ensuring that issues are dealt with swiftly and with universal acceptance of the outcome, disengagement of the group is minimized and the strength of the different units within the group remains intact. How do you mitigate conflict in your chosen groups? Think about whether resolution is something that is given careful attention or something you would rather avoid. Reach out in times of challenge and get the conflicting parties around the table. Reconciliation requires high levels of social intelligence and is hugely beneficial to the group dynamic.
5. Recognition of Third Party Relationships
Alongside the dynamics of the pack are the alliances with other packs or even other species. Building such relationships with third parties in the wolf world are due to exceptional environmental circumstances and are likely simply a matter of survival. In the human world it is more complex, however, the bottom line is that by reaching outside of the defined group we can shine a light on our own deficiencies, avoid the notion of ‘groupthink’ and bring an even more diversified approach to problem solving. Third parties also bring a network of resources we were not aware of to facilitate innovation or help deliver on an objective. Consider your out-group as well as in-group network. What new and fresh dynamic can such affiliations bring to your current environment?
6. Learning in a Social Context
Wolves are not the only ones we can learn from when it coming to social knowledge development. Human children are also masters of this creative exchange known as play. We spend a significant proportion of our sub-conscious time ‘reading’ those around us. Through mirroring, observation, cooperative problem solving we, like wolves and children, are able to hone our empathy, social and collaboration skills. These very natural behaviors are ‘unlearned’ as we reach adulthood and further suppressed in our working lives. Go out and play once in a while and observe the reactions and impact you achieve. You will be very surprised at how energizing and effective it can be for both you and those around you.
7. Communication
When we consider communication from a human perspective we immediately start thinking about communications media and in particular technologically derived media. Let’s learn from the animal kingdom and think about the ways in which we communicate in non-verbal ways. It is well documented that a huge amount of our communication impact is non-verbal and yet we choose often to ignore this fact. Connect with the ‘thin slices’ of information provided to you through body language, sight, voice tone, eye contact and gesticulation. Think about how you effectively transfer information using some of these more natural, animalistic tendencies. Consider it at a very personal level and it will impact on your communication ability within a group.
So, unleash your inner wolf and connect with the social intelligence of the pack. It will improve your communication and collaboration skills both at work and at play.
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