I was reading a piece my boss shared with our team, A Nation of Weavers, written by David Brooks of the New York Times when that term entered my lexicon. Its meaning, while not specifically defined, connected with me on a level that few other terms have in a long time. In the article, they write about experiences that they had while researching hyper-individualism. My favorite quote from one of the people they interviewed stated “We don’t do things for people, we don’t do things to people, we do things with people.”

What many don’t realize about me is that I am science-oriented person by nature. I majored in biology, not business or HR, in college and while I think I’ve done pretty well in my chosen field, I still have a love for science, specifically, the life sciences.

This term, “radical mutuality” resonates with me because it reminds me of the symbiotic nature of so many relationships that we need to have as humans. This goes beyond our mere need to be needed, but instead suggests that there is a very real connection that happens whether we intend for it too or not. It’s these interconnected elements that can lead to our ultimate success in life.

In one of my previous positions, we debated whether we should be striving to build up people’s independence without ensuring that there was an interdependence that was just as strong. Thankfully, we landed in a place where we emphasized connection with the larger community rather than a singular focus on an individual’s own ability (or disability).

One of the challenges many of us right now in an economy that has low jobless rates is finding the talent we need in our organizations. I suggest that the concept of radical mutuality can help us in attracting and retaining valuable talent. Building interdependence and treating people the right way can make an organization stand out. Pair that with a valuable mission and vision, you can achieve great things with the great people you are certain to attract.

Do even better. Figure out how you can help push this radical mutuality not just in your own organizations, but in the larger world as well.

What class (in high school, college, or grad school) influences you now in a way that you did not anticipate at the time you originally took the class?

I know I need to think on this one for a bit. I hope you do as well!

My answer comes in my next post! Feel free to chime in.

When you were a child, what did you want to do and did it have any impact on what you ultimately became?

Starting early on, like many boys I had the fascination with being a firefighter (even riding on my rocking horse with my plastic fire hat on!) but soon found myself considering other things. For a while, in middle school, aeronautical engineering had some appeal. That ended as my math grades saw a decline during 8^th grade.

Entering high school, there was a wide open world ahead. Ultimately, my thoughts for post high school study became focused on biology (specifically marine biology) and that was my chosen field of study as an undergraduate. As I commonly say today, I have my undergraduate degrees in biology and environmental studies and haven’t used them a lick! I might be one of those that some pundits point to about judging the true value of a college degree. That is a post for another time.

Although I am now in the field of human resources (and have my MBA) I still love life science related things and find that there are often lessons from the biological world that can be applied to the art of HR and business.  A few include:

1. While there is great complexity in our world, some of the best things in both life and business are truly simple in their composition.
2. Relationships matter and can be symbiotic, antagonistic, or somewhere in between.
3. There are rules for everything, except when there are exceptions.
4. What we do not know often exceeds that which we do know.
5. Beauty takes many forms. Consider that both the warthog and a multi-sheet Excel document with pivot tables each have admirers.
6. Life cycles exist for living beings as well as organizations.

One of the papers I had to write during my MBA studies was focused on organizational structures. While many of my fellow students focused on mechanical aspects of hierarchy and control, my approach was different. Organizations are very much like life forms in how their systems operate and function. I would make the argument that we get better results when treating organizations less like machines, and more like living organisms.

That is the impact my early fascination has had on me!