- We, the Homo sapiens, have had a truly remarkable pre-history, one which is worth revisiting to understand our present. It has been established that we have been hunter-gatherers and foragers for far longer than we have been agriculturists and industrialists. If you were to imagine a forager and their daily life, it is a robust assumption, backed with evidence, that they needed to be the Jack, or Jill, of all trades. An average forager would need to be adept at a variety of skills, in addition to foraging of course. A forager was expected to know their surroundings in detail to maximise the amount of food they could gather or hunt. Every person would know how to carve a stone knife, how to fix their protective clothing and shelter, how to keep away from poisonous flora, and how to avoid falling prey to other animals. Each day of their life was filled with very real achievements – managing to source a hearty meal, keeping safe, creating a weapon that could aid in acquiring nourishment/protection and so on. This sense of true personal accomplishment is believed to have held our forager ancestors in good stead.
As we traversed through the evolutionary timescale, we did something truly unique and path-breaking as a species. We started collaborating. We discovered that if we were to divide responsibilties between individuals and groups, we could achieve more collectively as a species than anyone ever before fathomed. Hence, we ended up with someone being an expert in carving the stone knife, another in protecting the group, yet another in hunting animals for food, creating fire, fixing clothes and so on. As we became better at collaboration, we managed to achieve unimaginable feats. Although they had the privilege of existing and surviving on this planet for a lot longer than we have, there is a reason why our forager and hunter gatherer ancestors never managed to land on the moon. Their descendents did. Purely due to collaboration.
Even though we have managed to achieve so much more collectively, the one downside of collaboration is the loss of that invaluable sense of personal accomplishment. The person who mined the metal that eventually became a tiny, yet crucial part of the spaceship that landed on the moon was probably unblissfully unaware of his/her contribution to the mission. It is likely that this person went about his/her job as a mundane daily routine without really gaining the all important sense of achievement, of contributing to society and the world around them.
Most of us work in organizations that have multiple departments, teams and groups. We invariably become a cog in a massive and complicated wheel. The organization goes on to achieve great things and it may become challenging to see how your contribution has impacted the final result. It has. Every person putting in conscientious effort will impact the way a group, a team, an organization will function. It is important to recognize that. As incredible as Neil Armstrong was, it is a fact that he would not have been able to make it there without the person who mined the metal.
Moreover, as a species, we need to learn to celebrate our collective achievements individually. At a personal level. It is most crucial to remind ourselves as individuals that there is no good reason why our personal sense of accomplishment should be sacrificed in the name of collaboration. On the contrary, we should be celebrating each collective accomplishment as a personal victory. The moon landing was a victory for Homo sapiens. Evolutionarily speaking, every member of our species has been instrumental in accessing the Moon. It is important to recognize where collaboration has taken us as a species. In modern society, personal fulfilment needs to come from this recognition as well. Go ahead, take it personally.
