Six weeks was all it took to transform my daughter from a critic of Boston drivers to being one. She had to adapt to survive.
Environment, good or bad, is a powerful transformer.
If you are in a ‘bad’ environment, can you change it?
There is wonderful audio program on WNYU Radio Lab where I learned about a troop of baboons who transformed their culture of aggression into one of peace and cooperation. Baboons are very aggressive by nature, yet this group transformed; they’ve sustained the peace for 20 years.
What did it take? I encourage you to download and listen to the radio program (it is very well done) for the specific details, but here is the basic outline:
- A catastrophic event altered their aggressive behavior to one of nurturing.
- The dominate members (alpha males) continued their peaceful behavior past the event.
- All new alpha males introduced to the environment adapted to the peaceful behavior rather than fighting to establish dominance.
Back to my question: Can you change a ‘bad’ environment? The answer is yes. But, it requires a significant sustained change in leadership.
If you are in an environment where you don’t share the values of the group, you will find yourself adapting to the cultural behavior little by little, unless you are the dominant person or leader.
Important questions to ask yourself: Do I want to become one of them? Can I embrace these values?
BTW, my daughter loves Boston; she consciously decided to become one of those crazy drivers. Watch out Indy when she returns!
