A p p e n d i x : B i o i n s p i r e d P a r a s i t e Details Internal Parasites: Endoparasites Biological endoparasites live inside a hosts’ body. In farms, biological parasites infect, hurt, and even kill animals, hurting a farming business. This book is look- ing for inspiration from biology to prevent or treat business “disease.” In business, there are many opportunities for inoculation and treatment. Brain Jackers—Acanthocephala— Thorny-Headed Worms Thorny-headed worms are rare in humans, and also cause disease in birds, amphibians, and reptiles. They are called thorny-headed because they use a bio- logical lancet to pierce and hold onto the stomach walls of the host (Wikipedia, 2013). Their lifecycle includes invertebrates, fish, lizards, birds, and mammals. In one stage of their lifecycle, they “brain jack” a small crustacean eaten by ducks. Just as inner-city drivers are subject to “car-jacking,” this parasite actually redi- rects the crustacean’s dominant behavior from staying away from light to actively seeking it—where ducks may be more likely to eat them, and where the parasite reproduces (Wikipedia, 2013). Alaskan Inuit have a zest for raw fish and that contributes to their increased incidence of Acanthocephala infection compared with other groups of people (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 506). Prevention and Treatment for Acanthocephala Endoscopic and X-ray examinations detect Acanthocephala because their eggs are not passed through feces (Mehlhorn, 2008, p. 25). Controlling the spread of rodents, as well as protecting and cooking food prevents infection. Surgery and medicine such as niclosamide and loperamide hydrochloride have been shown to be effective (Mehlhorn, 2008). 222 Appendix Possible Organizational Implications of Acanthocephala “Brain jacking” is analogous to the most dangerous consultants, leaders, ven- dors, and employees who implant toxic ideas into senior leadership’s agenda, affecting their decision making deleteriously. That includes the use of snake oil that lacks evidence and often backfires. My favorite example of this is feed- back. Kluger and DeNisi (1996) published a meta-analysis showing that when people get feedback, they improve one-third of the time. Surprisingly, as much as one-third of the time the person actually worse than with no feedback at all! Regrettably, it is rare that leadership and organizational development consul- tants actually leverage research for the wares that they peddle—caveat emptor. A key insight here is that leaders who ignore evidence may be “brain jacked.” The lifecycle of the thorny-headed worm pointed medicine to drugs that exacerbated the weak part of the worm’s value chain. This parasite does suggest that leaders would do well to systematically think about evidence-based ways to break the lifecycle of parasite-like behavior, by systematically looking for their weak links, and remediating for value-destroying behaviors. Delhi Belly—Amebae If you have ever encountered Montezuma’s revenge, you have experienced the joy of Entamoeba histolytica . The ameba is responsible for diarrhea. It starts life in your body with a fecal infection of the food or hands in the form of a cyst (Microbiology and Immunology Online, 2009). The microbial cyst is an ameba that forms into a ball with a protective membrane. It lies in this dormant state until a healthy environment is available (Wikipedia, 2013). But most amebae harm no one. A few are parasites, and one or two are so vicious that they cause a significant amount of human misery, even death (Roberts & Janovy, 2009). Amebic cysts can survive the highly acidic stomach acids in people, where they migrate to the small intestine and move back to their normal state. They grow and multiply by fours, and some migrate into the large intestine while others attack the surrounding tissue. They reproduce by reencysting themselves and passing out of feces. As a parting gift, they give you gas—if you are lucky. Between 50 million to 500 million people are believed to be infected every year, and causes up to 100,000 deaths annually (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 113). Prevention and Treatment for Amebae Amebic dysentery is treated with several types of pharmaceuticals, especially Metronidazole because of its low toxicity and effectiveness with infections both inside and outside the colon (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 111). Appendix 223 Possible Organizational Implications of Amebae Amebae have changed the fate of armies—the tiny 20 micron Entamoeba his- tolytica “has long been known as a handmaiden of war, often inflicting more casualties than bullets and bombs” through dysentery (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 108). Occasionally, careless plumbing has caused full-blown amebiasis epidem- ics (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 113). One Chiropractic clinic in 1980 caused an epidemic when they did not clean their enema machine, causing 10 patients to have their colon removed, and 7 patients died (Centers for Disease Control, 1981 cited in Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 113). This example shows that unskilled or unconscientious employees are parasitic. Similarly, leaders who tolerate ineffective or unsafe processes or behaviors can destroy the organization’s very existence. Organizations do not actually eat parasites. But inspirationally, the ameba’s example suggests that organizational parasites may perpetuate value destruction by entering the organization and infecting others with bad ideas, nefarious prac- tices, and actual damage. Parasitic actors may, in effect, similarly contaminate organizations. Just as preventing consumption is important biologically, so is pre- venting bad leadership, ineffective ideas, or malevolent and unskilled employees to enter the organization. This includes making sure employee capabilities are not mismatched with the job, or at least are selected for immaleable traits and intel- ligence. Similarly, acquisition of parasitic partners, employees, and joint ventures may be avoided by the conscientious use of science-based due diligence methods. And consider the amebic hibernation phase—when it lays dormant waiting for a better environment. Does this sound like it could also describe the behavior of employees who are burned out at yet-another-change, and consider it man- agement’s “flavor of the month”? Employees are unlikely to actually curl into a ball, but the behavioral reactions of resistance to change, spreading rumors and rationalization that can account for resistance are reminiscent of cyst behavior. Employees may treat new initiatives as a hostile work environment, and similarly wait it out until a new initiative comes along before changing their behavior. This highlights the role of a leader in creating an adaptive context consistent with Complexity Leadership theory discussed in Chapter 5 . Kitty Toxicity—Apicomplexa All Apicomplexa are parasites, and comprise over a thousand species “some of which are of major veterinary and medical importance” (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 123). One type, eimeria , causes a variety of intestinal diseases in farm ani- mals. One subspecies hurts unborn babies and appears to change our personality. Toxoplasma gondii , whose ultimate destination is the housecat, can live in humans as an intermediate host, and cause neurological defects in infants before they are even born (Roberts & Janovy, 2009). Undercooked beef, pork, and lamb are also sources for infection, but can be avoided by brief freezing and thorough cooking. 224 Appendix It is because of this parasite that I was assigned kitty-litter duty twice prior to the birth of my children. Toxo may also be a contributing cause to heightened levels of schizophrenia and neuroticism ( Economist , 2010). Other studies suggest that it alters people’s dopamine levels, increases testosterone in men and increases the chance they get into accidents, act with jealousy and become dogmatic (House, 2010). Infection by Toxo is even associated with suicide and babies suffering from Down syndrome (Fleger, 2010). But these are just correlations, and do not necessarily suggest that Toxo causes these symptoms. Studies where rats are randomly assigned to Toxo and non-Toxo infection con- ditions show that Toxo is one of many parasites that manipulate the rat’s behav- ior to make them attracted to the smell of cats—thereby increasing the chance of being eaten (Fleger, 2010). Consequently, Toxo also causes a “Brain jacking” situation. A series of studies on biology researchers who became infected with Toxo attempted to control for confounds, and suggested that Toxo could even be responsible for personality changes in people, as measured by Cattel’s 16PF questionnaire (Fleger, 2010). As with mosquitoes, horseflies, and most bloodsucking parasites, Kenneth Starr was spawned in stagnant water. James Carville Former advisor to Bill Clinton Apicomplexa’ s pneumocystis carini and cryptosporidium can kill patients with weakened immune systems. One of the worst forms of Apicomplexa includes malaria and other malaria-like organisms. For centuries, it has outranked warfare in causing human suffering (John F. Kennedy, as cited in Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 147). In spite of organizations in 102 countries working to eradicate malaria, it remains one of the worst diseases in the world today in terms of morbidity and economic loss. Fortunately, in a few countries like the United States, malaria is extinct. Prevention and Treatment for Apicomplexa A variety of diagnostics detect whether or not a subspecies of Apicomplexa is present. Various pharmaceutical treatments have been shown to be effective. For example, pyrimethamine and sulfonamide together block a pathway (bottleneck) required for the livelihood of a parasite that kills human babies called T. Gondii (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 138). The first antimalaria drug was quinine, discovered in the sixteenth century, but not all patients were permanently cured. Later, the discovery of the full life- cycle of the malaria parasite pointed to infections largely from epidemics of other people being infected, and when people are near stagnant water where mosquitos Appendix 225 breed (Roberts & Janovy, 2009, p. 160). Killing mosquitos, and their habitats; introducing mosquito predators, and using insect nets have helped.