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Like the rabbit in front of the snake

Autor: Mario Dönnebrink

Who doesn't know the saying "Like the rabbit in front of the snake"? This describes the phenomenon that a rabbit simply stops moving in the face of a great threat and, paralyzed, hopes for a good outcome of the situation. In the case of an attacker like a snake, however, we know how it all ends.

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The expression tries to show how humans sometimes deal with threats or challenges that are too great - namely like a rabbit in front of a snake: Not at all. Paralyzed, we try to sit out the situation. And just like in the animal world, reality also hits us humans brutally: Failure to make adjustments, changes not implemented but necessary, change not initiated - whether on a personal, corporate or societal level - this typical behavior is always present. Most of the time, it would be easy to master challenges if you simply reacted early enough. The rabbit could just run away and do a few things - we humans can easily initiate necessary changes. But that's often not what happens. Whether as a society against the background of the great transformation challenges - or as an organization in the company: We try to suppress, look the other way, stop, block - and even if this is not done consciously: We are only too happy to think of a thousand reasons why " all that doesn't work".

Just one example on a societal level - the polarizing heat pump: we prefer to ask ourselves "where is the electricity supposed to come from?" (Spoiler - it's already here) and whether a law has been thought through and formulated sufficiently meticulously (spoiler: It was formulated very carefully for more than 4 years) as easy to do and usually save a lot of money in a short time and make yourself independent of oil and gas exporting countries. In countries where action was taken early, far - sightedly and proactively and there is therefore no need to catch up – i.e. there is less momentum for change – we Germans are laughed at for this behavior. "What's the matter with you?" is asked from the USA or Denmark. Sometimes I ask myself how we as a society can survive in these times of great changes and challenges when we react so exaggeratedly and upset to such small issues.


But let's get down to the corporate level and the individual person - I'm even more familiar with that than with politics and society 😉: At the company level, I have also experienced this situation very often in many conversations with top managers. Sometimes even worse: You didn't just sit like a rabbit in front of a snake, but by hesitating too long you also had your back against the wall. Companies are always forced to adapt to constant market changes. Always. These necessary adjustments must be recognized early in order to have the necessary time to carry out adjustments in peace. That's the ideal. In most cases, however, it is about smaller rather evolutionary steps, about incremental changes. Most companies have this under control. Then it quickly is called: “Look how innovative they are. Always something new and has been on the market for 20 years.”

Unfortunately, I have to destroy this illusion: That's not enough in the long run! Due to many factors, such as faster technological development (see e.g. Moore's Law), ever faster innovation, multiple crises (and thus not only multiple threats, but also multiple opportunities) and global megatrends that are becoming increasingly common often dramatically changing consumer habits, we see more and more the situation of revolutionary changes and disruptions. Megatrends name and describe complex changes taking place worldwide and are a model for changing the world. Megatrends are not changes that will take place in the future, but rather major upheavals that are currently taking place. (See https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/dossier/megatrends/) And it doesn't help to say: It'll be fine, "this AI stuff will definitely not catch on" or "not that many will become vegetarians", but an early engagement with the topic - and if so not early, then NOW is always the right time - welcoming the changes as an opportunity and thus mitigating the threat are now the order of the day.

A good example of this is the sausage manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle, which recognized early on that vegetarianism and veganism are subtrends of the ongoing megatrends health and neo-ecology, which are irreversible and large parts will dramatically influence consumers in their purchasing behavior. The manufacturer has also quietly created a wide range of industry-leading vegetarian and vegan products and has taken the risk of product cannibalism, for example. It turned out to be right, because as early as 2020 it was reported for the first time that Rügenwalder Mühle generated more than 50% of its sales from veggie products. In front of the pale faces of the then defeated competition. In the software industry, the counterparts to the veggie trend are several megatrends. The megatrends of connectivity, new work, globalization, security, knowledge culture and neo-ecology are massively driving the development of software products through subtrends such as sharing economy, greentech, platform economy, security, crowdsourcing, collaboration or artificial intelligence. The "cloud" form of deployment that began in the 2010s was and is a necessary technological change that had to be implemented in order to meet the new requirements of users and companies / organizations. In the software company where I was working at the time, we set off in good time against strong resistance, so that the “Rügenwalder effect” described above has now occurred.


But in conversations with many other board members and managing directors, I often heard and still hear the same thing (and if not in the cloud context, then in the context of AI, basically the terms can be exchanged almost arbitrarily): - that we do not concern - The cloud will not come for many years - This will not prevail in all industries - This is not possible in Germany because of data protection - Our business model cannot be transferred to the cloud - Then too many services break away due to standardization - Our employees don't want that - Our management doesn't want that - ...

In the meantime, a broad development has started, which I would like to call the post-denial or post-ignoring phase. In the meantime, I very often experience how the unstoppable change is accepted, but a certain lethargy sets in, which can best be explained with the supposed realization that "one is too late" and now nothing can be done. Often paired with "the others don't want it". This behavior is understandable, but ultimately wrong. It doesn't help to solve the problem. Because you always have to deal with the same problem:It's always about a revolution, a disruptive change. If I don't adapt, she adapts me. Things always turn out better when I can steer myself, so I start trading. I have been able to gain this insight over the years in my work at and in companies and in conversations with managers. When you tackle, you control, you shape - and it always gets better than just letting things happen. And another realization has made me more and more relaxed over the years when faced with major change challenges: 100% of the employees do not have to be behind the change. And you don't need a large part of the workforce to create new services and products. No, you only need a few people who are interested in change and progress - a few doers and a few promoters - to irreversibly set the necessary change or upheaval processes in motion. With the global megatrends, it is not 100% of humanity that initiates and implements these important changes that are taking place with full force. So in the "rabbit-in-the-snake" situations, we always have to be aware that we have to act. We have to make. In addition to gaining knowledge and strategic development, we have to act. The rabbit has to run away. We have to offer new products and services. Develop new software. Create new sausages. Invent new mobility concepts, install new heat sources,... And what we all too often forget: The making itself and the new things are damn fun too! I therefore cordially invite you to make / act. And if you need support and inspiration: I'm happy to do it 😉 Sources:




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1 Comment

NOVA KAANDRI
NOVA KAANDRI
May 02

Kabar4d Bocoran Pola Gacor Rtp 98.99% Pragmatic & PgSoft.

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