**Couldn’t find a clip of this quote… just watch the movie!**

Movie: Something Wild // Speaker: “Motel Philosopher” to Charlie

WHAT IT MEANS:
The lion is generally thought to be the king of beasts – regal, powerful, beautiful, and on top of the food chain – the envy of the animal kingdom. “Being a dog,” on the other hand, is often an insult (regardless of your feelings about man’s best friend) – dirty, mangy, and maybe even scoundrel-like. In the context of the movie, Charlie used to live life as a lion, but after getting a taste of the wild side, he decides that he wasn’t really “living” as his former self, and he’d rather live it up as a dog.

In a broader sense, this is an important principal for business strategy – companies can strive to stay ahead of their competition, but they can’t always stay above them. To be competitive, it’s important to get in the fight (i.e. be a dog), rather than to protect their kingdom (i.e. be a lion). This point has been illustrated time and time again with the digital revolution – for example, Kodak is famous for holding onto their leading position in the photographic film market through most of the 20th century. When one of their engineers created the first digital (filmless) camera in 1975, they refused to move forward and kept the invention quiet. They were so focused on remaining the lion in the photographic film industry that they missed the opportunity to be a dog in the digital field. And with that refusal to be a dog, they lost their kingdom.    

For business, sometimes it pays to just get things done. I’m not recommending the tactics used in the movie (theft, violence, lies), but sometimes, being the dog in the fight, getting dirty with new/different things and even living on the wild side (taking risks) can pay off – and be a lot more fun in the process…

Fun fact: this quote has biblical roots (Ecclesiastes 9:4), however in the bible it’s a message about hope – the living can hope, so it’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion.  

IT MAY COME IN HANDY WHEN…

  • Encouraging somebody be a more adventurous or creative in their approach
  • You want to support risk-taking
  • Emboldening somebody to lighten up a bit
  • Making a case to do something outside a business’ comfort zone that has potential to keep them alive

MOVIE SUMMARY

You can see the full Something Wild summary here.

Special thanks to Rick Z. for his ever-brilliant business and movie insights and inspiration. Now, if only he’d send me some fresh blackberries…