As regular readers will know, I'm always on the lookout for inspirations in unusual places. Often, that's museums.
Earlier this week, I visited the Neanderthal Museum, located in the middle of the Neander Valley, where the world's most famous human fossil was found in 1856.
There I met this gentleman, Mr. 4 Percent, a very realistic-looking replica of a 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴. Dressed in a suit, I mistook him for a fellow museum visitor until I spotted the rather primitive weapon in his hand.
It's exactly why Mr 4 Percent is there: to highlight the fact we're all a tiny bit Neanderthal, and some of us (𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴) have up to 4 percent of their DNA in us.
While I learned lots of things I didn't know before visiting — for example, the fact we have smaller mouths than they did, because we learned how to cook food with fire, making it easier to chew and therefore requiring smaller teeth — it's Mr 4 Percent that's my abiding memory of a fascinating museum.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆?
I've often used the term Neanderthal pejoratively to describe something incredibly primitive that's not adapted to the modern world. What I learned from the museum, and in particular Mr 4 Percent, is that they were far more sophisticated than I'd ever given them credit for.
Perhaps, I thought mischievously to myself, we need a Mr 4 Percent equivalent for Compliance. After all, ask the average employee what their gut reaction is to hearing the C word, and you're likely to hear something less than positive.
Since he's got into my head, I'm going to give Mr 4 Percent some more thinking time. Maybe there's something the remaining 96% can learn from.
Oh, and if you're ever near Düsseldorf, do pay him a visit.