Kicked Out of the Wolf Pack

The image of a lone wolf stirs the heart; the strong, independent hero fights injustice and, against all odds, saves the day. Picture Jason Bourne, Dirty Harry, or almost any movie starring Bruce Willis.

In reality, the odds actually do catch up to the lone wolf, as shown in research on ostracism across many species and social groups. In Born To Be Good, Dacher Keltner describes how "wolves who have been kicked out of their group for excessive aggression and an inability to play are less likely to reproduce and more likely to die."

Isn't that a good description of some of the difficult people in your organization? Excessive aggression and an inability to play! As you consider who to keep in your wolf pack, and who to kick out, doesn't it make sense to kick out the ones who are overly aggressive and who don't get along with others? If someone is just in it for themselves, and isn't committed to the others in the group, they can bring down the whole group. And that is exactly why wolves and other social species kick out the toxic ones. The group, the mission, the organization is more important than any one individual.

And, the mean parts of our own personalities can take some comfort from the fact that the ones that we do kick out are also then less likely to reproduce and more likely to die :)