"Björn, just curious—why the crocodile?"
Someone asked this in a team chat once. I told them about a German management story I'd heard.
Say a manager wants you to move from point A to point B. They could give you a direct command (the pistol approach). Or they could put a crocodile at point A. You'll move to B on your own.
The crocodile is about control through fear instead of direct orders. German unions talk about this a lot.
The team got into it: "So the pistol is better? At least they don't want to shoot you. But the crocodile wants to eat you!"
I said there's a third way: "Skip the crocodile—put free food at B instead."
🍪 "Any cookie preferences?" — my manager, who'd been reading along.
I keep the crocodile around as a playful reminder. Better to move toward something good than away from something scary. Plus it makes me smile when I need to get work done.
It sits on my desk now. And here on GitHub.
📚 The original German story: Wie Krokodile Vertrauen schaffen – COGITO Institut für Autonomieforschung
🫖 Workplace note: No actual crocodiles in the front pond. And we do get tea and biscuits sometimes.