Thank Goodness It's Monday #426

HEARING A DIFFERENT  LESSON

IN THE CALL OF THE WILD

No less an authority than the Encyclopedia Britannica ranks her “without question one of the most significant contributors to our knowledge of the world around us.”

 

She’s been called “the Einstein of behavioral science” by the Los Angeles Times.

So, as I shared about a dozen years ago with some of my readers, as soon as the scientist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall entered the lecture tent at the Baltimore Book Festival, the overflow crowd was on its feet in sustained applause.

She received the acknowledgement politely, a small figure at the lectern, smiling quietly.

Then, tilting back, she puckered her face and returned their greeting with a robust chimpanzee “pant-hoot” – the distance “Call of the Wild” of the Gombe chimps.

(You can hear her pant-hoot and get a small lesson in chimp communication HERE.)

Apologies if you thought this TGIM was going relate to Jack London’s famous Call of the Wild but this nostalgic little incident jumped to top-of-mind status when I spotted the phrase “pant hoot” in a recent story in the “Arts” section of the newspaper. 

It centered on six chimpanzees who painted pictures to be judged in an art contest.

Jane Goodall was the judge.

The winners received grants for their wildlife sanctuaries.




Jane Goodall's Selection
created by Cheetah



The Voters' (people) Selection
created by Brent

The word “pant-hoot” appears prominently in most versions of the contemporary reporting (here's the USA Today write up) and it made me consider how less mainstream it was when the book festival took place at the turn of the millennium.

Back then Goodall was promoting her poignant and insightful memoir Reason for Hope in which she explores her extraordinary life and personal spiritual odyssey.

At the heart of that story is Gombe. That’s the Tanzanian refuge where Goodall set up a field station a half-century ago and conducted groundbreaking research into the complexities of chimp society.

That revolutionary work forever altered the very definition of “humanity.”

But let’s not get too philosophical. 

And since TGIM isn’t Animal Planet, for our purposes her overarching message for us in our daily roles in business, civic and family life might be “the ability to reach beyond their culture and their immediate surroundings has always been characteristic of the greatest leaders.”

TGIM CHALLENGE: In Reason for Hope Goodall dares us to power up our active idealism with this observation: 

“We will have to evolve, all of us, from ordinary, everyday human beings – into saints! Ordinary people, like you and me, will have to become saints, or at least mini-saints.”

She explains further: “Our knowledge of chimpanzee behavior does, indeed, indicate that our aggressive tendencies are deeply embedded in our primate heritage. 

“Yet so too are our caring and altruistic ones. And just as it appears that our wicked deeds can be far worse than the aggressive behavior of chimpanzees, so too our acts of altruism and self-sacrifice often involve greater heroism than those performed by apes.”

Looking back on her life, experiences, and meetings with world leaders and less celebrated but no less effective leaders, she concludes: 

“What a difference a single individual can make …

Every one of us has a role to play ….

“The blending and mixing of billions of unique life-strands can lead to one person so strong, for good or evil, that he or she can influence billions of others and change the course of history.”

Her research also led her to conclude: “It was obvious that every human, every unique being, played some role in shaping progress, though only some got into the history books. Throughout every second of every day there was change abroad in the world, change due to the impact of mind on mind – teacher and pupil, parent and child, world leader and citizen, writer or actor and the general public.”

Jane Goodall’s talking to us still. “Yes,” she goes on, “each one of us carried seeds for change. Seeds that needed nurturing to realize their potential …. So, I thought, we would simply have to try, each and every one of us, to become just a little more saintly. That surely we could do.”

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Give a hoot; maybe even a pant-hoot. But don’t “monkey” around. (Yes, I know monkeys and chimpanzees are distinctly different. But I couldn’t resist the pun.)

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Do your research carefully and objectively. Ground your positions in fact-based results. Share what you know without accusing or belittling. Seek the involved participation of others, even if you must start small. Build on successes and be active for the betterment of the widest circle.

Jane Goodall is still on the road, creating highly visible events, spreading the word and stumping for conservation and education. The unabashed pant-hoot chimp calls have become a signature. She emits them as a way to bring the distant companions close to herself as well as to touch listeners’ consciences.

Brent

Can you hear them? 

I bet you can.

So how about answering this Call of the Wild? 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  Every individual matters.

        Every individual has a role to play.

        Every individual makes a difference.

            -- Motto of the Jane Goodall Institute