Dutch consulting firm Apemanagement prompts managers to reflect on their leadership by observing ape hierarchies.

Different ape species have different hierarchies — gorillas, for example, have patriarchal leaders.

— The firm took McKinsey managers to observe bonobos, who were shocked to find the apes have orgies to curb conflict.

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There are countless books, articles, and videos about leadership styles that hold human behavior up against different hierarchical structures in other societies. But Dutch biologist Patrick van Veen has a slightly different approach: he looks at animal behavior.

Through his consulting firm "Apemanagement," he shows managers what they can learn from apes. The consultant analyses the hierarchies and behavior patterns of different ape species and compares them with those of humans.

The aim is not to encourage a specific management style, but to help companies and their managers reflect on their strategies and to improve them.

60 managers and an ape orgy

Bearing this in mind, he conducted a leadership seminar at the zoo with 60 high-ranking managers from McKinsey, a global management consulting company, when a small incident occurred, according to Welt.

The managers were given the opportunity to observe the behavior of two Bonobo troops who weren't familiar with one another.

One might expect territorial or aggressive behavior but what did the bonobos do? Well, they had an orgy.

Orgies aren't considered unusual in the bonobo realm but it was apparently too much for the managers.

Two weeks after the appointment, van Veen received a letter expressing that he should have warned McKinsey there would be "offensive" scenes.

He argued that it should have been thought-provoking and exciting for the managers to observe bonobo behavior: they resolve conflict in a unique and effective way.

One of the things that particularly stands out is not just that bonobos have orgies, but that they are initiated and led by females.

Aside from the female leadership element, the bonobos' orgy method probably doesn't constitute a viable strategy for the boardroom.

However, we can use their behavior to deduce that there are ways for leaders to create a good atmosphere in the office and that there more than a few of them.

Bonobo behavior means there are fewer conflicts and more integration, personal appreciation, experience, competence, and respect.

Other ape species have different leadership styles

In contrast, gorillas have a patriarch as their leader, whose leadership style is one of unrestricted authority.

One positive effect of this is that gorillas often take care of lower-ranking peers and there is more trust, van Veen said, according to Welt. This is the most common style of leadership among people too, he said.

Apes are born politicians and are much more democratically organized than gorillas, bonobos have a very "flat" hierarchy without clear leadership, while orangutans are loners, van Veen told Welt.

"As soon as their environment changes, they stop working," said van Veen.

Perhaps office orgies were not what Apemanagement was trying to highlight, but rather the idea that we're not as different from apes as we like to think. We could probably do with thinking a little more creatively when it comes to group harmony.