The Strategy of the Dolphin

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Strategy of the Dolphin®: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World ISBN 0-449-90529-2 is a 1989 business book written by Dudley Lynch and Paul L. Kordis. It has been translated into seven languages.

Contents

[edit] Sharks, Carp, and Dolphins

There are three types of business people discussed in Strategy of the Dolphin. These three types of business people are compared to sharks, carp, and dolphins to shed light on their distinct behaviors.

The following contains ideas that are according to the book:

[edit] Sharks

Sharks believe in scarcity. Their perception is that there must be winners and losers. To ensure that they won’t be the losers, sharks “move in for the kill,” striving to get as much as they can in every case, regardless of the cost.

The sharks’ basic nature is to take over or trade off. If their efforts to win are thwarted, they will resort to a trade-off strategy. But they feel comfortable only when they are in total control. Sharks assume that they always have the only possible solution. They have a desperate need to be right 100 percent of the time and will go to any extreme, including lying, to cover up their failures and shortcomings.

It is difficult to work with sharks because they lack the ability to use creative strategies. They are unable to try anything different or learn from their mistakes. Their attitude of scarcity dictates their actions and reactions.

[edit] Carp

Like sharks, carp believe in scarcity; but unlike sharks, carp believe that they can never be the winners. Because of this belief, they focus their efforts on not losing what they currently have. Carp do not like any type of confrontation, so their normal response is to give in or get out.

Neither of these responses, when used repeatedly, leads to positive outcomes. People who always “get out” and avoid negotiations become cut off and isolated. The “give in” strategy is even worse--people who constantly give in eventually have nothing left, and are eaten alive.

[edit] Dolphins

Lynch and Kordis chose the dolphin to illustrate the ideal because of the animal’s high intelligence and ability to learn from experience. When dolphins do not get what they want, they quickly and precisely alter their behaviors in sometimes ingenious ways in pursuit of what they are after. Dolphins have the ability to successfully adapt to any situation they encounter. If one strategy is unsuccessful, dolphins respond with other possibilities. They learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others. Dolphins believe in both potential scarcity and potential abundance. Because they realize that both are possible, they learn to leverage what they have and use their resources superbly.

[edit] Additional nuances from the book

PECs (pseudo-enlightened carp) are carp who believe they have escaped carp belief system influences but instead have adopted another "sacrificial" viewpoint toward life at a higher order of complexity.

Dolphins will behave aggressively towards sharks if they need to, although their preference is win-win-based behavior and outcomes.

[edit] See also

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