The Village Venus Effect

Cartoon of two fish in a bowl with one saying to the other"You're the most beautiful fish in the whole world".

There aren’t many places left in the world which are so isolated that the residents have had almost no exposure to the outside world.  I feel very fortunate to have visited some such places in my research for writing geography textbooks – remote locations such as the Hartmann Valley in northern Namibia where the Himba people live, the upper reaches of the Baliem Valley in West Papua, Indonesia, which is home to the Dani people, and the Omo Valley of southern Ethiopia where several remote tribes such as the Mursi and the Arbore tribes live.

If you were a boy in the un-named village of the Arbore people shown below, you would grow up knowing all the other boys and girls in the settlement.  As you emerge from boyhood into young manhood, your perspective of your peers will almost certainly change and mature.  One day, if you are brave enough, you might even approach one of the young women in your village and declare “you’re the most beautiful girl in the world”.



Four girls of the Arbore tribe in southern Ethiopia.  Original photo by Stephen Codrington

Four girls of the Arbore tribe in southern Ethiopia.  The photo was taken by me in 2008 when I visited this village to undertake field research for a Geography book I was writing at the time.

In terms of the world you have known all your life, you may well be right.  You may continue to hold that view for a long time, perhaps until the day comes when you are old enough to venture further afield into the wider world.

As the famous Maltese organisational philosopher and thinker, Edward de Bono, wrote in 1982, “Simply stated, if you’re living in small village, the prettiest girl in that village, is essentially, the prettiest girl in the world — in your own perception”.  This has become known as the Village Venus Effect.

The term “Village Venus Effect” describes a situation where a small, insular community excessively praises and admires a local individual or entity, often beyond the level that is objectively warranted.  This admiration can lead to a distorted perception of that individual’s or entity’s true value or achievements, creating an echo chamber of mutual self-congratulation and complacency.  In the context of a school board, the Village Venus Effect can show itself when board members, leaders or administrators are excessively praised and shielded from criticism, leading to a lack of accountability and resistance to change.

The Village Venus Effect can pose a huge but often unrecognised trap for school boards and leaders.  In the same way that in Greek mythology Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, school boards and leaders sometimes fall into the trap of believing their own marketing rhetoric and may become blind to significant shortcomings that ought to be identified and addressed.  In colloquial terms, this is sometimes referred to as “drinking your own Kool-aid”.

It is easy to understand how the Village Venus Effect (or “collective narcissism”) can seduce a board and/or the executive leadership into an unrealistic and unfounded state of complacency.  If the Principal or board members stay within their own isolated bubbles and never visit or experience other schools, never network with others who serve in similar roles in other schools, and never undertake any professional development workshops on school governance, they are never challenged by the realities and initiatives of the outside world.  Complacency can be particularly insidious, and indeed dangerous, for school boards where most of its members have been serving on that same board for a long period of time (which is an argument for term limits).

Extract from "Echo and Narcissus" (1903) by John William Waterhouse. The painting captures the tragic moment from Greek mythology where Narcissus, entranced by his reflection, is oblivious to the forlorn Echo who watches him in despair. Credit: Google Art Project. Public Domain.

Extract from the painting “Echo and Narcissus” (1903) by John William Waterhouse. The painting captures the tragic moment from Greek mythology where Narcissus, entranced by the beauty of his own reflection, is oblivious to the forlorn Echo who watches him in despair. Credit: Google Art Project. Public Domain.

What are some signs that a school board may be falling into the trap of the Village Venus Effect?  Some warning signs might be comments like these:

When a Board becomes unknowingly trapped in the Village Venus Effect, the consequences can be dramatic – and seldom in a positive way:

Is there hope for a school board (or Principal) that is caught in the Village Venus Effect?  The first, hardest, and most difficult step is to take a ‘big picture’ look inwards from outside the isolated bubble, recognise that collective narcissism may be at work, and then acknowledge with humility that a culture of self-congratulation needs to be replaced by a culture of transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.  This will happen as diverse perspectives are encouraged and embraced, constructive criticism is welcomed, benchmarking and external reviews are regularly conducted, and authentic merit is celebrated.

- Dr Stephen Codrington

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