Insects are incredible, but the King of all insects has to be the honeybee.
After investing in an Indiegogo startup more than a year ago I received my flowhive a couple of weeks ago.
Building, placing and acquiring a swarm has been fun but cannot be compared to the insight that observing this community has brought me.
I have a new respect for these incredible creatures, they truly are the embodiment of efficiency, resilience, hard work and communication.
Considering some of the work I do with organisations facing 'superVUCA' situations and how they react when the heat is on, the bees have taught me a lot in a very short space of time.
Observations:
Bees work together – they do not give up on each other, they are loyal
Bees are creative – they are willing to traverse all areas and adapt to any new situation within and without the natural tolerances of the hiveBees go to the fringe - Bees are not afraid to fly right to the edge of possibility looking for the perfect flower
Bees are committed - When they defend the hive, or chase after nectar their tiny necks are on the line, one sting - one life
Bees are master communicators – they know they are working against the clock and make sure that the swarm is up to speed on all things honey
Bees give feedback to each other – one of the most amazing things to see is a bee coming back to the hive full of nectar, it does not go into the hive without giving feedback to the gatekeepers who then use that data to inform bees leaving – this is incredible
Bees handle VUCA In their stride – I moved this swarm 27KM from its original home, that is comparable to setting up a division on the moon, yet they handle it and begin to take advantage of their new reality from day 1!
Day one looked like this: about 30 drones came out of the hive, circled the general area for about 15 minutes and then flew in various directions all returning within about an hour. This was followed by a significant feedback session with gate keepers. The next morning there was no fussing about, the bees started leaving the hive in significant numbers, they did not fly around aimlessly, but rather departed on various trajectories armed with new knowledge and data from the environment. They immediately used the feedback they had received from the drones and the efficiency of the hive started immediately - amazing
Learnings:
1. work hard -> become creative -> experiment with the fringe ->believe so you can commit -> master your communication -> give and get great feedback = VUCA champ
2. Nature is awesome, take time to understand it.
3. FRINGE - don't be afraid to call the monster out, go looking for that solution, customer, dream, otherwise you will wonder forever. The 'searchers' have a 100% better chance of discovery when compared to the nay sayers, bees and certain people are searchers.
4. Once you know it (whatever it is for you) - DO IT, tirelessly until you succeed.