Watching a movie that was set in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains happened to remind me of a line from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” I believe this sentiment to be true in business as well as in nature.

A pack is only as good as the wolves that are in it, and an organization is only as good as its people. The collective experiences, abilities, skills and motivations of the people is what makes a business successful — or not. In both packs and human organizations, each individual has a defined role and for things to run smoothly, each role must be filled and executed appropriately. These defined roles — explained in written job descriptions in human organizations — allow each member to work independently, but they must also respect and follow the group rules, which are the hierarchy and culture.