The HiPPO and the Amplitude of the Savannah Lake

Imagine you have a large group of HiPPOs living in a huge Savannah Lake. They feel safe, secure surrounded by so much water. They cannot be hunted because hunters are afraid to drown in the water. They cannot be taken down because the water carries them up to wherever they want.

Then there comes a drought. A drought which dries up the Savannah Lake. The Lake turns into mud and sand. The HiPPOs become hugely stressed. They swim in all directions, climbing up and over each other. Some even drown because of the others’ fear. Some just sit still and await things to come. Others try to climb up the sand through the entrenching mud. And inch by inch the hunters come close and take down the HiPPOs one by one.

Can the remaining HiPPOs turn around the drought or do they become extinct?

So here’s the deal HiPPOs have been hunted throughout all ages. They are high up in the hierarchy and subject to critique at all times by everyone. However, in the olden days they were respected and revered. They could do no wrong which made them climb up to wherever their strategy and their supporters carried them. Their numbers grew.

But things have changed. There are more educated younger HePPOs (Higher Educated Paid Person Opinion) coming up on the work floor, those who work in the mud can now also read, write and think. That means they can form their own opinion and feel free to comment on the set-out strategy. Or even suggest alternatives to the existing roadmap to find the best way to answer to the drought and regain some of the old Savannah Lake. They take a bite at the HiPPO.

Other competitors on the Savannah also want a piece of the drying up lake or create their own lake. These are the EPPOS (Entrepreneur Paid Person Opinion). They threaten the remaining HiPPOs in new and unimagined ways.

The only advantage for the HiPPOs being that they are distracting the hunters, spreading them out more evenly alongside the drying up lake or directing them to new Savannah Pools.

But at the same time it could be a disadvantage to HiPPOs as well, as the existing Lake may dry up sooner than they had hoped for. However, the hunters are happy as there’s are more alternatives to hunt: which HiPPO, HePPO or EPPO to hunt down first?

The HiPPO which swam in all directions and climbed over others to find a new spot in the Lake will not survive. He in turn will get trampled by his colleagues or be taken down by his supporters. Supporters need direction, not diversion.

The HiPPO which sat still and awaited things to come will either be hunted down by his hunters or become extinct when the Lake dries up fully as there is no water left to sustain him.

The HiPPO which tried to climb up the sand through the mud will either slide down back, succeed or get stuck in the mud. But at least he is trying to change his situation not at the detriment of others nor at his own cost. When he succeeds he may be followed by some of the HePPOs. Or move over to the pool where the EPPOs are trying to swim. Or he may find a bigger Savannah Lake to swim in.

In any case you may gather that the HiPPO in the drying up Savannah Lake will decrease in number. But as some may get out they won’t become extinct. Moreover, due to the EPPOs more Savannah Pools are springing up which may also need a new population of HiPPOs and HePPOs.

For sure, the group will become more diverse containing many PPOs. It even turns out that this diversity makes Savannah pools grow. They get so much water that they join other pools until they turn into a new Savannah Lake. Which in turn means that the drought is being tackled.