What Can We Learn From Pirates?
Okay, so we can learn a lot from trees? But what about pirates? While reading one of the dozens of books I read annually; “The Republic of Pirates”, I found out that pirates, too, have quite a bit to teach us as leaders and entrepreneurs.
- Pirates made collective decisions. Pirates were known to be very democratically organized. For example, they made the most important decisions together and periodically chose the leaders of their ships together. Something familiar to us, of course.
- Pirates believed in fair and equal pay. Pirates rewarded themselves as fairly as possible. Loot was often divided equally among everyone, with the captain and first mate often getting only 1.5 or 2x as much as a sailor. Something that was different on the traditional merchant ships of the time.
- Pirates embraced change, they were rebellious and innovative. I probably don’t need to explain that pirates were rebellious, as they were a small group taking on the most powerful organizations of the time. But in addition to that, they were also very innovative, especially socially. For them, change was not a nice touch, but a real necessity.
- Pirates were pioneers when it came to treating everyone equally. Voting rights and equal appreciation of women and people with different backgrounds or views were already very common among pirates. Something that can only contribute to the success of any organization.
- Pirates had to be transparent. To avoid suspicion and jealousy, pirates were extremely transparent when it came to pay and responsibilities. Something we recognize as well.
As with trees, of course, there are also things about pirates in particular that we should not want to learn from them. For example, pirates were known killers, looters and engaged in many other reprehensible activities. Consequently, we do not condone this in any way possible.
Did you find part 2 interesting and would you like to know how we are inspired by pokémon? Then quickly read part 3 of our blog now!
