Cognitive Traps - Part 1: The Chicken Trap

Christoph Erni built Juice Technology and shaped it into the global market leader in mobile charging stations. Before that, he held various leadership positions in IT and led a management consultancy for 20 years. Throughout his career, he repeatedly noticed that the causes of wrong decisions and failed projects were always rooted in the same cognitive traps. In the following columns, he reveals some of these traps and entertains us with insights into the abysses of business everyday life.

Every time I present one of my collected cognitive traps, someone says, "We have exactly that problem as well. But we have never looked at it from this perspective." In this sense, I hope that the following columns will not only entertain you but also prompt you to discuss and change critically entrenched behaviors in your environment.

Here comes cognitive trap No. 1, whose story fits wonderfully into the holiday season:

The Chicken Trap

Do you know the fable of the farmer who found an eagle chick that had fallen out of its nest and was sitting frightened on the ground? In any case, he took it in and, because he couldn't think of any other solution, put it in the coop with his chickens. Indeed, a hen took the foundling under her wing, and the eagle grew up. Of course, he imitated the behavior of his role models; after all, that's how we all learn. Soon he was wandering quite aimlessly around the barnyard, his gaze always lowered, occasionally picking at a grain.

One day, a gamekeeper visited, and he was astounded to see the king of the skies waddling around as a shadow of his former self. He whispered to the farmer, "That's an eagle. Let me show him freedom so he can live appropriately!" The farmer replied, "Try it if you like, but you won't succeed. He has been raised as a chicken and has come to terms with that role. He has long forgotten his original destiny." Each morning now, the gamekeeper came by, lifted the eagle with both hands out of the chicken coop, and encouraged him: "You, who are an eagle: Spread your wings and fly to freedom!" But the eagle always just hopped back to the ground to look for a few grains, head and gaze lowered as ever. When the farmer wanted to abandon the exercise, the gamekeeper insisted on one last attempt. This time, he came earlier than usual, just at sunrise. Again, he took the eagle out of the barn - and held him firmly, guiding his head with his thumbs. He let him gaze directly into the sun rising on the horizon. It is said that only eagles can fly directly toward the sun without being blinded. He felt the tremor that ran through the bird's body. Suddenly, the creature spread its mighty wings, let out a loud scream, rose majestically into the air, and flew away, directly toward the light.

I bet you thought of people around you at that moment. Or even yourself? Of eagles being kept short as chickens. Of people who could achieve much more if only they dared. In some political systems - and in some company cultures - that's the program. Broken-willed chickens are much easier to manipulate than self-confident eagles. Have you ever considered that the whole education system, unfortunately, even particularly at universities, aims to cultivate domesticated copies?

Perhaps you will find a little time over the holidays to think about hidden eagles. To unleash them, you would need to find out what their personal "gaze into the sun" trigger is. I try it again and again with people in whom I see a lot of potential. I challenge them in ever new ways - and by no means are all attempts well-received. But that's okay, because the moment they recognize their own chicken cognitive trap and transform into an eagle, all the effort has been worth it.

Happy holidays and an eagle-rich new year wishes you

Christoph Erni.