ALPHA ATHLETES - The Sphinx Magazine

Success by Instinct:
What Animals Already Know
to Boost Your Career
By William E. Boswell
Dallas, Texas: Brown Book Publishing Company, 2006 (225 pages).
Reviewed by Dr. Joseph T. Durham
Can man—Homo sapiens—
learn anything from ani-
mals? William Boswell, an
Alpha Brother and a long-time executive
with major companies, thinks
so. In his book, Success By Instinct,
Brother Boswell lists 14 animals
from which humans can learn. He is
on good scriptural ground. Proverbs
6:6 of Holy Writ says: “Go to the ant,
thou sluggard, and learn from her
ways.” Ants are among the animals
that Brother Boswell lists. He says
“Ants’ actions have often been
described as resembling human civilization.
Their daily activities rank
extremely high on the scale of intelligence”
(p. 32). He says that ants
identify, organize themselves and
diligently pursue the accomplishment
of their goals. Humans should
take a lesson from ants and establish
goals and work diligently to achieve
them. The ant is tenacious in achieving
its goals. Human beings must be
just as focused in the achievement of
their goals.
The other animals that humans
should observe, according to Brother
Boswell, are: elephants, chameleons,
peregrine falcons, beavers, dolphins,
hornbills and mongooses, geese,
white-tailed deer, crocodiles, whales,
dogs, alpha wolves, and prairie dogs.
In this short book, Brother
Boswell examines the behavior of the
animal and makes application to
human endeavor. He does not supply
any justification for why these particular
animals were chosen; and one has
to wonder why they were chosen while
others were left out. For example, why
not the horse; or the bear; or the
lion—the king of the jungle?
Success By Instinct discusses 14
principles that the author has gleaned
from his study of animals. These principles
are not unique but Brother
Boswell shows how each principle
applies to human behavior in the business
world. The first principle, “Know
Yourself,” has been widely written
about but Brother Boswell takes this
principle and makes it interesting by
describing the behavior of elephants.
For one thing, elephants recognize
and accept their physical attributes
and potential for dominance but they
avoid using these characteristics for
that purpose.
Brother Boswell admits that he
had a tremendous fear of speaking in
public but he overcame this fear once
he realized that it was keeping him
from reaching his goal in the professional
world. He enrolled in
Toastmasters International and took
courses at Dale Carnegie and overcame
his fear. He says, “Recognizing
and accepting your personal weakness
is necessary; however, developing
a purpose to remove it is essential” (p.
8). Brother Boswell further states that
elephants “practice activities such as
recognitions, awareness and acceptance
of their environment” (p. l6).
Self-knowledge, self-acceptance, selfimprovement,
and self-fulfillment are
all important if an individual desires to
fulfill his goals.
A study of chameleons furnishes
the second principle of success.
Chameleons use their natural color to
hide or blend into their surroundings.
To accomplish one’s goals, you must be
as adaptable as chameleons. The
process of adapting to a new environment
is called the acculturation
process. It is a survival skill for
chameleons and for humans. The
BOOK REVIEW
Brother Joseph T. Durham
degree to which we adapt to a new environment
will determine the level of success
we achieve in a professional organization.
He cites an individual who failed
to adapt to the environment of an
agency in which he worked. In spite of
repeated counseling sessions, he could
never make the adjustments necessary
and so, he finally left the organization.
Like chameleons, even though
one may excel in an academic environment,
one must make the paradigm
shift and adapt to the new environment
of the professional world, or
one will fail.
Peregrine falcons are cited
because of their tremendous speed
but less is known about the huge
preparation they undergo to search
for food to sustain life. Brother
Boswell says that we “must demonstrate
the same level of dedication and
commitment to self-development as
the falcons” (p. 48). Such investment
is the key to success. Just as peregrine
falcons do, he asserts, we must learn
other skills based on environmental
and other considerations.
“Busy as a beaver” is an often
quoted saying. The unyielding determi-
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