Kung Hei Fat Choy, Happy Chinese New Year, and welcome to the Year of the Rabbit. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, in the next twelve months, our destinies will be influenced by the powers and forces of these small mammals in the family Leporidae. Although rabbits are harmless, shy and cute herbivores, rabbit years are often said to be rather challenging, complex and difficult. Considering possible discontinuities like the market pressures on the Euro, the warnings of a new financial crisis in the making, high volatility in many commodity markets, and other potential difficulties, the business outlook for 2011 is indeed full of uncertainty, ambiguity and question marks. In today’s article, let’s explore the survival strategies and behaviors of the rabbit to help you find some creative inspirations to allow you and your business to succeed in the Year of the Rabbit.

Speed up to flourish and survive in a hostile environment

Nearly all large predators eat rabbits. Against this discouraging background, how have rabbits survived? Rapid reproduction. Thanks to their high fertility, a very long breeding season of 9 months, a very short reproductive cycle of only one month, and large litter sizes of 4 to 12 babies, rabbit populations multiply fast enough to keep their numbers fairly constant in a hostile environment full of predatory enemies.

Creative inspirations from the rabbit for you and your business:

• How can you apply the survival strategy of ‘rapid reproduction’ to your business?

• How can you innovate faster? How can you speed up your new product development cycle (or time to market)?

• How can you increase the frequency of your sales? How can you increase the frequency of customer contacts to amplify your output?

• How may it be helpful to speed up other business cycles, such as your product life cycle, your cash cycle, etc.?

• How else may an increase in frequency or speed help you and your business to flourish in the Year of the Rabbit?

Other rabbit survival strategies

Aside from rapid reproduction, rabbits have cultivated a number of other strategies and behaviors that allow them to survive predation:

• Rabbits dig underground burrows to live and hide in. A rabbit never ventures far from its burrow as it forages and feeds, so that it is able to quickly take refuge in its warren. A Chinese proverb says: “The crafty rabbit has three different entrances to its lair.”

• As social prey animals with keen senses, rabbits constantly scan their environment for predators. Rabbits have an outstandingly wide field of vision that even allows for overhead scanning; together with their long ears, they are thus well equipped for timely detection of approaching predators, so they can warn other rabbits with forceful thumps on the ground.

• Rabbits have quick reflexes to help them survive in a world surrounded by threats. They are fast and agile, allowing them to disappear in an instant. When attacked by a predator, they run away in a zigzag motion, and, when forced to fight, are able to deliver powerful kicks with their hind legs and bite using their strong teeth.

Creative inspirations from the rabbit:

• What symbolizes the principle of burrowing for your business? What “three entrances” (e.g., different revenue sources) can you build to always ensure your survival in a competitive business location?

• How carefully do you scan your competitive environment? What tools, technologies and methods do you employ to monitor your market in order to track the movements of other players, and to spot new trends, competitive threats and emerging market opportunities early on? How quickly do you react to a potential threat or opportunity?

• When powerful competitors and other industry players zig, how can you zag to survive and flourish in your competitive industry or category?

• Even as a small or niche player, how can you creatively use your strengths to outsmart the moves of the dominant market players?

Learn to face and master your fears

Rabbits are said to be timid, shy and fearful animals. This is hardly surprising, given that they have to survive in a world full of predatory enemies. As the modern business environment is characterized by increasing complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty, the Year of the Rabbit invites us to investigate our own doubts, worries and fears to find out if they serve us, or instead limit our personal or business growth. For example, you may be a business leader in an industry that is stagnating or in long-term decline, or that is threatened by a disruptive technology, or by economic trends and developments. You may anxiously observe the increasingly hostile competitive environment that threatens the survival of your business, but if you are paralyzed by your fears, you will be too afraid to venture out to explore new territories.

Creative inspirations from the rabbit:

• In your career or business, what doubts, worries and fears weigh heavily on your mind?

• What fears hold you back from venturing out into the open? From exploring new territories? From realizing your full potential?

• What fears dominate your thoughts so much that they become self-fulfilling prophecies?

• What else can you learn from the rabbit to face your fears and master a new, more hostile environment?

© Dr. Detlef Reis 2011. This article was published in parallel in the Bangkok Post under the title “How to creatively master challenges in the year of the rabbit” on 3 February 2011.