The ostrich, premeditated thought and why you should be more like a chimp

Let’s start this blog entry with a couple of animal stories


The Ostrich

There is no scientific evidence that Ostriches react to danger by burying their heads in the sand. Whilst they are do briefly stick their heads in the sand to swallow sand and pebbles...they react to danger in a far more practical way.....they run!!

The Chimp

In 2009, Santino, a Chimp in Furuvik Zoo in Sweeden was able to collect stones and “stockpile” them away for future use. The reason Santino was doing this was because he wanted to ensure he had enough missiles to throw at the visitors when they came to see him!

The interesting thing about this story is that scientists believe that this shows that Santino possessed a skill considered by many as a uniquely human quality....Collecting these stones now so that he could throw them at visitors in the future was an illustration to many that Santino had “shown evidence of premeditated thought.” In other words...the ability to plan for the future!!

The Point

So, you may be thinking....”why is an independent financial adviser starting his latest blog entry with a couple of stories about Ostriches and Chimps? “

Stick with me....there is a reason!!

Although Santino has shown that the other animals have the capacity to plan for the future, making plans is still one attribute which makes humans relatively unique to the rest of the animal kingdom. The ostrich, although we now know do not put their heads in the sand when in danger are not particularly well known for their forward planning skills!!

However, sometimes I’m surprised that there are a few fellow business owners who, when it comes to planning for the future of their business behave more like the ostrich than the chimp, specifically by not planning for the upcoming changes in pension rules which are going to impact every employer.

These rules were bought into being by the “excitingly titled” Pensions act 2008 and effectively mean that if you employ, it’s likely that both you and your employees will be paying into some form of pension within the next few years.

Although there are some exemptions, the specific rules on the changes are too detailed to go into on this blog...if you want the key facts on the upcoming changes they can be found on our factsheet here:-
So, let’s end with a question....have you already ensured your business is ready for these upcoming changes or have you decided just to run away from danger?

In other words....are you a chimp? Or an Ostrich?