"The authentic experience of those who are different can positively change you forever"

The purpose of a fable is to communicate a simple yet important message. In Animal Kingdom, the message is to learn to see through the eyes of others as a necessity to compatibly live and work together in greater harmony. In this story, several diverse groups of animals must learn how to work together to survive an impending crisis. In order to do so, each group must first learn how to set aside their own opinions, ideas, and even values in order to achieve a compatible solution. Bill Guillory has skillfully used various animal groups to represent families, communities, cities, and nations who continually struggle to create harmony by reconciling differences.

• Gazelle - Highly detailed, fact and data oriented, Accurate, reserved and controlled
• Zebra - Sociable, outspoken, emotional, charming, spontaneous, lively, and adventurous
• Lion - Goal and object focused, competitive, task-oriented, strong-willed, confident, and bold
• Caribou - Highly sensitive, avoids conflict, friendly, supportive, patient, understanding, and adaptable

Take our Self Test to determine which Animal Group you belong to.

Listed below are the seven principles necessary to create culturally compatible living environments. Each of these principles has been sequentially developed in each of the seven chapters of this book.

1. Inclusion - sharing power and decision making to create a society (or planet) of equals
2. Integration - transcending one’s group identification to become part of a greater whole; to create true unity
3. Respect - realizing that acceptance by others begins with the unconditional acceptance of yourself
4. Transformation - the invalidation of ethnocentric beliefs to embrace and integrate differences
5. Empathy - seeing through the eyes of others as the basis for reconciling conflicting differences
6. Cooperation - working together as equal partners to create solutions that are mutually beneficial
7. Collaboration - sharing risks and consequences to create mutually supportive living environments

The elements that make this sequential process a reality are trust and commitment; where commitment is defined as the willingness to resolve the challenge of greatest difficulty, when it inevitably occurs.

A Book by William A. Guillory Ph.D.