TEAMWORK: TO “BEE” OR NOT TO BE

corporate survival

The worker bees emit audible bleeps while doing their directional dance.  The interval between sounds, spells out the exact distance to the source of pollen.  The communication process of bees is marvelous,  but the oft times hidden essence of their survival process is that only 82 percent of the hive are genetically predisposed to  follow instructions—the other 18 percent are mutants, incapable of compliance—the other 18 percent are mutants, incapable of compliance.  These undisciplined explorers (does the term loose cannon sound familiar) take off without flight plans.  In the process of failing, a percentage of them find new sources of pollen.  Without mutant bees, the hive would soon deplete its known source of nutrients and become extinct. 

If man could create life, he would strive for perfection—which would relegate the life form to assured extinction.  Perfect operating systems eventually kill users by depleting essential resources.

Companies achieve market dominance when their loose cannons “mutant bees” discover new products or stumble across unique ways of doing business—innovations that customers perceive as adding value.  As the innovative company then adapts to capitalize on its advantage, alignment creates focus and clarity of purpose—similar to what happens in the beehive.  Profit is finally realized when conformance produces operating efficiency.

There is a caveat attached to innovation-based success. History is riddled with evidence that military victors seldom live happily ever after.  That’s because unlike mutant bees, winning generals are prone to reuse the technology, strategies, and tactics that helped them win previous battles.  Sticking with yesterday’s advantage when the situation has changed is a recipe for disaster.  Germany conquered Europe with a new strategy called blitzkrieg (lightning war—a sudden swift military attack). Fixed embattlements such as the Maginot line, once thought to be impenetrable, did nothing to impede the rapidly moving invader.  When a culture becomes centered on a specific advantage, there is great risk that ideology will take over—and ideology is an anathema to change.  During WWII, while Poland was in the process of being invaded, a defending cavalry officer wrote in his dispatch, “the idea of huge armored vehicles rolling down roads at a fast pace is a dream.”