In a fitting metaphor, the most recent experiment with social
darwinism resulted in mass extinction. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey
Skilling claimed he was inspired by Richard Dawkins’ book The
Selfish Gene when he implemented a system known as “rank and
yank” that sought to apply nature’s lessons to the energy
industry. Skilling had all employees in the company ranked every
six months. Then he offered lavish bonuses to the top 5 percent
while the bottom 15 percent were relocated or fired. This system
of ruthless competition advanced just the type of personalities
that one would expect: crazy people. As one Enron employee put
it, “If I’m going to my boss’s office to talk about
compensation, and if I step on some guy’s throat and that
doubles it, then I’ll stomp on that guy’s throat.” However, what
was perhaps most disturbing is that according to Time magazine,
20 percent of US companies were following the same business
model at the time of Enron’s collapse. Enron’s self-destruction
was only the first in a nationwid