[Paleopsych] Restart: licking the rich

[Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D.]

Interesting point, Steve.
Steve and I have differed on this before. Competition doesn't lead to 
psychopaths, it leads to results. Psychopaths leave a clear 'trail' and 
are fairly easy to spot. Prolonged and disciplined action is beyond 
them. That means that a psychopath (or, more frequently, a narcissist) 
might be in charge for a time but soon falls apart, and soon enough, the 
board wises up, and the psychopath is dumped.

My evidence for this is - among many other sources - Jim Collins book, 
Built to Last and his follow-on book From Good to Great. Associated with 
this is the work that Dan Goleman has done on emotional intelligence in 
corporations. His book, Primal Leadership, summerizes his research on 
that, and pretty much eliminates the hypothesis that organizations are 
led by psychopaths.

Exceptions are where the leader keeps the organization in chaos and 
mobilized against some kind of for, i.e., Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, David 
Koresh, and Usama bin Ladin. As the leader keeps the focus on the Enemy, 
he can keep control over the group. But modern organizations are 
primarily stockholder owned, and there is some accountability via annual 
meetings, such as Disney's latest kerfuffle.
Lynn Johnson
Salt Lake City

Steve wrote:

>If we say that only competition matters,
>then the psychopaths end up in charge,
>which I think describes our present
>situation pretty well.
>
>Steve Hovland
>www.stevehovland.net
>
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