Biomimicry
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Want to Build an Organization That Lasts? Create a Superorganism

Want to Build an Organization That Lasts? Create a Superorganism | Biomimicry | Scoop.it
"[...]It’s simple math. Like dinosaurs, organizations keep getting bigger, but they need huge bones to support the weight of all that complexity. The more weight, the more bones; the more bones, the more weight. It’s a catch-22. Management is the ponderous skeleton that keeps organizations from collapse. But as they grow, the costs of management rise, and the ability to adapt declines. When sudden change comes, there’s not much a company can do—it’s a sitting duck (or dinosaur) for the next cosmic collision. Hierarchies can only scale so much—we can’t grow bigger bones forever.[...]"

Photo details: By JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Ditch Time-Wasting Meetings By Turning Your Office Into An Ant Colony

Ditch Time-Wasting Meetings By Turning Your Office Into An Ant Colony | Biomimicry | Scoop.it
Ants may free us from that scourge of modern society: the meeting (and maybe even the overbearing boss).If that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, know that scientists are serious about recruiting ants to improve human collaboration.
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Why Organizations Should Embrace Randomness Like Ant Colonies

Why Organizations Should Embrace Randomness Like Ant Colonies | Biomimicry | Scoop.it

"Consider the common ant. Each one is by genetic design capable of only a few simple behaviors and binary choices, making it a pretty dumb, rigid, inflexible being. Yet the collective behavior of an ant colony is adaptive, flexible and even creative; it’s a highly structured social organization. Now consider your average human. Most of us are individually adaptive, flexible and very creative. Yet the large organizations in which we work are often inflexible and incapable of adaptation and true innovation. Why are ant colonies so much better than the sum of their parts, while governments and companies are so often much worse?"

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