Are you a Turkey or Owl?

If you knew there was imminent danger in front of you what would you do? That is pretty easy to answer for most of us, especially when talking in generalities, but is it really that easy to apply to our life situations?

Most of us would say that if we knew danger was ahead of us we should change directions to avoid it, but too often I’ve seen those around me (me included) make decisions that don’t make sense. This is something that is easy when observing it in the lives of our friends or those around us, but it often becomes a little muddy when thinking about our own circumstances.

One of my favorite Proverbs is Proverbs 27:12 where it says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” This is a “turkey” and “owl” lesson. Another way to say this is to say, “The “owl” or wise person sees danger in front of them and makes preparations to avoid and divert, but the “turkey” or foolish person ignores the warning signs and keeps going thinking everything will turn out alright.”

Here’s a deeper dive into this Proverb:

• The prudent see danger and takes refuge: The key to this is the wise person spends time noticing the things around them and discerning the danger level. The prudent see the danger and act accordingly. They change course, they divert, they take refuge in order to protect themselves and others from coming danger.

What if you asked this in your next team meeting or in your next conversation with your spouse: What danger do you see heading our way where we need to map out a plan to protect ourselves or change directions? There are others around you who see potential dangers coming and we should tap into them in order to effectively avoid danger.

• The simple keep going and suffer for it: The naïve person who doesn’t take time to notice the danger ends up in an undesired destination. They may even see the danger, but they simply choose not to act. The end is they suffer for their foolishness.

I keep thinking back to the documentary Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock. Reality is if you eat McDonald’s incessantly for weeks or months your body will eventually shut down. The naïve person will not see the danger in eating unhealthy for this period of time and keep doing it. This will not end well and you will suffer for it.

We’ve all been in situations like this and it’s very hard at times for us to interpret our own circumstances. We either choose to not acknowledge the potential danger we are heading towards or we see it and choose to keep going anyway. Most of the time those are no the stories we want to share with our kids.

When it comes to your life or your organization, it’s the leader’s responsibility to be out in front discerning danger. It could be internal, external or environmental threats but those need to be “seen” and proper action should be taken to mitigate risk for yourself or your organization.

Here are a few tips on how to put guardrails in our lives to help us see danger and take appropriate refuge:

• Spend time evaluating – Looking back and looking ahead for potential danger in your personal life or organization

• Ask yourself, “What is the wise thing to do?” – Constantly ask this question when making decisions or evaluating options.

• Ask those around you that you trust to provide wisdom for you – Be open and vulnerable with a few people who will be honest with you about the direction you are heading in.

• Go public with your “take refuge” actions – When you see danger and define an action plan to avoid it, share that plan with someone else. There is more power and accountability in going public than just keeping it to yourself.

Discussion Question: What other things help you to see danger and take refuge?