New post (21) : What the birds know and we don’t
Nature is the best teacher that there is.
What can we learn from (swarms of) migratory birds, ant colonies, (foraging) locusts…???
Swarm describes a behaviour of an aggregate of animals of similar size and body orientation, often moving en masse or migrating in the same direction.
The Arctic terns fly in a swarm across continents year after year. Facing most dynamic weather conditions enroute. Never missing the flight path from start to destination. No collision among individual birds. How do they do it ?
Each bird (having 360 degree vision) only keeps itself dynamically-oriented to exactly 6 other birds. One in font, 2 alongside and 3 behind. Flying in mini-3D-pyramids………..(much like fighter planes flying in a tight/safe V-formation).
The “swarm behaviour” has good applications for organizations. In creating an organization with a life-long-learning orientation………and doing that informally in small groups of ones own choosing.
For starters, each year, I’d get each employee to identify and declare on paper 6 others in the organization that he/she will aim to learn from. Whatever it is that he/she wishes to learn.
Those he/she choses should be from different functions, divisions, units, locations, levels, etc-etc). The more varied/diverse the selection --- the better.
They may or may not be part of his immediate work group. i.e. Boss, peers, subordinates. Preferably “not”.
Valuable learning+cross fertilization+enrichment.........will (just) "happen".
A company wide understanding, respect for and consequently the adoption of an approach styled after (or borrowing from) swarm behaviour has “another” very incidental payoff i.e. --- organization wide cohesion….. Read that as low attrition or longer tenure.
As nature teaches us “collective” intelligence is just as important as “individual” intelligence.
So, lets learn from the birds !!!
PS: Mentoring as an idea has become somewhat passe’.
Though it’s still relevant in a continuation of the great Indian Guru-Shishya tradition.
Charlie Brown
