What is a Tall Poppy?

The tall poppy is a cultural phenomenon with ancient origins, which has gained prominence in modern literature, particularly with Australians and New Zealanders. Tall Poppy Syndrome is a metaphor used to describe the practice of devaluing those who are particularly prominent or proud. It involves the societal inclination to cut down individuals who are experiencing success in larger volumes than what is considered the norm. It discourages high performance, encourages mediocrity, and forces alignment with the status quo of society.

The origins of the tall poppy metaphor are said to have come from the allegory of King Tarquin the Proud in ancient Rome where he walked through his garden and cut the heads off all of the tall poppy flowers in the garden bed. Although what followed differs from source to source – one source suggests that the King then stated to his son that “When people rise too far above others, they must be brought down”.

Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia

It is believed that the prevalence of tall poppy syndrome in Australia may in part be due to our colonial, convict heritage whereby as each generation bettered their lifestyle and living conditions, tall poppy syndrome became the norm to keep people in check. When a society of convicts came from having nothing, it was easy to cut down those who bettered themselves and rose too far above others. This tradition remains today. So, in a society that openly practices the cutting down of tall poppies, and possibly even encourages it, is it any wonder that the practice has the potential to significantly constrain our society from growing to its full potential?

Do we have it in the ADF?

If we see this effect so prominently in Australian society, it is no doubt also a part of our ADF culture and identity. I once wrote that “Our Army is built within a sub-section of Australian society. That society was built on colonialism . . . and in the case of Australia, convicts were used as the workforce to do so. We are a product of our environment. Our Army is built with a society that was built with convicts. This doesn’t make our society bad. It makes our society human; and that humanity makes our Army fallible.” This is relevant because we should expect that the tendency to cut down tall poppies would be funnelled into the ADF from broader society through our recruitment streams. Inside the ADF it is possible this behaviour could remain at similar levels to society, be amplified by our specific organisational culture, be suppressed, or in some cases eliminated. This depends on how much the ADF culture differs from that of society. It is safe for us to assume that tall poppy syndrome in the ADF remains at best ‘within the normal limits of Australian society’, and anecdotal feedback from other militaries suggests this to be true.

The Cure

Some argue that the cure to tall poppy syndrome may be worse than the syndrome itself citing that “In our age of self-promotion, with social media sites devoted to not-so-humble bragging” we may have already become immune to tall poppy syndrome, no longer caring about the ridicule that can come with self-promotion and success. If we don’t cut down the tall poppies, do we risk creating a proud and noble organisation, one which becomes overbearing and arrogant? If this occurs, do we risk creating a military that can’t learn because it is too arrogant? Humility is no longer highly valued in Australian society, so the risk of the pendulum swinging too far is real. But theoretically there is a balance where success is valued and celebrated, but those who are successful remain humble.

Impacts on the Profession

To decide the impact tall poppy syndrome has on the profession of arms we must briefly look at what impact it is believed to have on society writ large. In doing so we can’t discount the possibility that damage occurs not only during service, but also before it. It is possible, perhaps even probable, that tall poppy syndrome is restricting intellectual capacity in Australian schooling, which in turn reduces the intellectual pool from which we recruit. Therefore, those who are selected may already be stunted to some extent comparative to what their intellect would have grown to without the presence of tall poppy syndrome. Additionally, it’s difficult to say how long this cultural norm has impacted Australia and to what degree. Therefore, it is possible the ADF has been stunted by tall poppy syndrome for its entire life thus far.

The Ryan Review (2016) identified the need for professional development to nurture and nourish our officers and soldiers in the Profession of Arms. Although we are now conducting professional development in a deliberate manner in both formal and informal settings, it is being undermined by the tall poppy phenomenon. Anecdotally, one of the largest hurdles to publishing military articles is the risk of ridicule from peers. As a result, the ADF has a culture that denies our people the use of true intellectual rigour and contesting of ideas to develop their intellectual capacity. If we were to see significant suppression or even elimination of the ‘cutting down of the tall poppies’ in the ADF, it is reasonable to assume we would see a significant increase in the intellect of our people; and therefore, better soldiers and officers who think clearer, more critically assess problems, make better and faster decisions, and test their own ideas and biases against those of others. This will result in a better military which wins more wars, faster.

In the contemporary setting, we can’t afford to muzzle or stunt our intellectual capital. We need to change our culture, at least within the ADF, to encourage behaviours whereby when we see someone rising up, we encourage their growth and celebrate their success. Because in doing so, we grow as an organisation and a society. We increase our collective potential and grow our intellectual edge. Envy is a natural human emotion. But we should use envy of tall poppies to motivate ourselves to achieve greater things and seek to be like them rather than cut them down to avoid feeling inadequate. If we manage to do this, we could see significant increases in the intellectual capacity of our military.

So next time you feel the need to cut down a tall poppy, remember, doing so contributes to the stunting of the Profession of Arms. Do your part to help us retain our intellectual edge and stamp out tall poppy syndrome in the ADF. We need to celebrate each other’s successes, reinforce our accomplishments, and push each other to continue to grow. But above all else in this, we must remain humble of our achievements so we can continue to grow without being cut down.