Corporate with Dodo trees

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The corporate trainers and the HR functions across the globe must learn about the Dodo tree, botanically called as Sideroxylon grandiflorum, endemic to Mauritius.  The tree is indeed perennial (live for several years) and is also highly valued commercially for the timber.  

 

The tree produce fruits and the fruit eating animals are thought to disperse the seeds after eating the fruit.  With the onset of extinction of the bird Dodo in Mauritius, the ‘dodo trees’ also started moving towards its extinction. 

 

Now the tree is considered endangered and only a few numbers exist in Mauritius.  Scientist could not understand why the seeds of the tree are not germinating.  All the required agro-climatic and geographic conditions are there in Mauritius for the said plant to continuously grow, flower, fruit and germinate.  All these biological process up to the seed germination is also happening.

 

Further studies by the scientists have helped them to hypothesize that the bird Dodo was playing an important role in the germination of Sideroxylon grandiflorum.   The fruits were eaten by the said bird and the seeds were believed to be getting processed in the gut of the bird before they get ejected along with bird’s feces.   Such processing may be inevitable for the seeds to germinate.  Attempts were made to pass the seeds through the gut of turkeys but met only partial success.

 

The scope of the article is not about the validity of the above hypothesis.  Even for the best performing person, certain supports that exist in the corporate, matters.  The dodo trees are fully evolved angiosperms; they flower, pollinate and fruit.  The fruits are edible and hence many fruit eating animals eat the fruit and thereby they disseminate the seeds.   In the sense, the plant is highly ‘self reliant’.   But at one stage of its life cycle, the plant has a necessity or dependency that the seeds must pass through the gut of certain birds. 

 

Every performing person in the corporate will have such micro factor influencing the performance.  Without understanding such micro factors, if the corporate move them from one function to other may not work.  An outstanding performer in sales may go as total failure in marketing and vice versa.  It may not be due to the capability issue but may be due to certain micro factors that are essential for such outstanding performance. 

 

The employee–corporate relationship is very complex and intricate.  Unless the multi-various hidden factors are clearly understood, managing people and task become difficult.  The HR function must therefore work like a scientist in knowing, understanding, exploring, experimenting, discovering and inventing only then they can lead the corporate to ‘total and complete’ success.

 

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

 

 

 

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