The ‘dead goat syndrome’ in organizations

What is it about?

This paper discusses the dead goat syndrome (DGS) as a benchmark in discussing the importance of metaphor in organization life and to identify the various leadership types that conform to the DGS metaphor. The dead goat syndrome emanates from a popular Ghanaian metaphor literary meaning a goat that is already dead does not fear to be thrust with a knife. Using this metaphor, we present a new lens for looking at leadership effectiveness and identify the basis for certain leadership behaviors in organizations. We

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Photo by Micaela Parente on Unsplash

Photo by Micaela Parente on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study generates several applications-oriented suggestions. Organizations should manage employees’ sense of generalized self-concept. Metaphors can divulge areas of everyday business life that remain impervious to the jargons, which have been created to describe it. Metaphors like the Dead Goat Syndrome can help to stimulate creativity and initiate discussion and exploration of issues of identity and change in the workplace if identified and utilized appropriately. In societies such as Ghana, most of the traditional ecological knowledge is preserved through metaphors and symbols. The DGS metaphor which gained international media attention after many years of use in the Ghanaian society needs the consideration of management and leadership scholars and practitioners in discussing and assessing leadership and employee behavior in organizations. This study lays the groundwork for empirical studies to test the propositions made in the paper. Further studies are required to test the conceptualization of the DGS empirically. It is important that the relationship between self-concept as a moderating factor in acquiring the DGS is established empirically.

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