Coyotes Are Cool!

What Singing Dogs Can Teach Us About Success

I like coyotes. They're tough, adaptable and always themselves, without concern for what so-called civilized folk think of them. We've stolen their habit for our master planned communities and malls, so they've moved in with us and stolen ours. They're also original, authentic, proud and expressive.

Of course, sometimes they're bad as well. Round here, they have a regrettable tendency to eat people's small pets. In Native American lore, they're tricky and liable to mess you up if you don't watch them. But, hey, they're also playful and spontaneous, and they're never dull.

Who would you rather listen to? A guy in a suit or a singing dog under a wild moon?

Maybe Conventional Sucks

Conventional thinking has got us where we are today. And if it's produced some great benefits, it's produced some equally massive problems. We won't solve the problems by using the same approaches that created them in the first place. Nor will conventional thinking produce many new ideas, especially if it's been worked to death by everyone from marketing gurus to media hacks.

And Maybe Those Coyotes Can Teach Us Something

The first lesson is to forget idealism. Now there's nothing wrong with having ideals -- even some perfectly pleasant people have them -- but they do tend to block the willingness to adapt. What's made the coyote so successful is adaptability. These guys are realists. If you can't change it, exploit it.

Next, be yourself. Well, heck, it's tough to be anyone else, but some of us spend a lifetime trying. As Shania says in the song, "That don't impress me much." It don't impress anyone else much either. You are who you are and you won't easily change that. Why bother? Just be the best version of who you are and you'll be fine. You'll also be authentic instead of a fake.

Sometimes little coyote boogers wake me up in the middle of the night having a riotous party somewhere in the wash behind my house. Lots of singing and probably a few beers. They really know how to have fun. Corporate America has lost that skill. Most companies aren't fun to work for. It's all so damn serious and heavy. But fun is the best source of creativity. Stamp it out and innovation goes along with it.

It's Okay To Be Bad Too

Not nasty and vicious or downright evil, but just a little mischievous and rough around the edges. Who would you trust more? Some person you know is inclined to be a little tricky on occasions, or a city slicker who pretends to be so-o-o honest but you suspect will stab you in the back as soon as look at you?

When I was young, the really interesting girls were usually described as "no better than she should be." Well, hell, that sounds about right to me. Why should anyone be better that they should be, except to create a false image to cover something worse?

Here's to being just as good as we need to be...and not even a tiny bit more!

Adrian W. Savage writes for people who want help with the daily dilemmas they face at work. He has contributed more than 25 articles to leading British and American publications and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Chicago Tribune.

Visit his blog on the ups and downs of business life.