The Secret to Boosting Revenue: What Can Super Organisms and Indigenous Tribes Teach Leaders?
I bet you never thought we’d be ‘consulting’ with ant and termite colonies for business advice.
Well, here we are! We’ve finally arrived back ‘home’ again, understanding that the answers we seek are always hidden in the natural world.
This blog post taps into the wisdom of nature and Indigenous communities, uncovering a blueprint for growth, sustainability, and long-term success.
Gone are the days of corporate extractive paradigms. Well, maybe they are not completely gone, but they are certainly being called to evolve. We are finally understanding that these systems only serve those on top, and sustainability is becoming less of a buzzword and more of a necessity.
Surprisingly, some of the best lessons on organizational success come from nature’s superorganisms—ants, bees, and termites—and from Indigenous tribes, whose communal wisdom has guided them for centuries.
Dr Tamsin Woolley-Barker’s book, Teeming: How Superorganisms Work to Build Infinite Wealth in a Finite World, explores these natural systems and reveals how their principles can be applied to increase revenue and create sustainable, thriving organizations.
Superorganisms and Indigenous Tribes: Masters of Thriving Ecosystems.
In nature, superorganisms like ant colonies and bee hives don’t rely on top-down management. Instead, they are decentralised, relying on collective intelligence and collaboration to solve complex problems. Similarly, Indigenous tribes across the globe have honed their communities through principles of shared responsibility, long-term vision, and an innate understanding of the ecosystem’s balance.
Here are some key principles driving their success:
1. Distributed Leadership: In superorganisms, every individual plays a role. Ants, for instance, each perform specific tasks—whether foraging, defending, or caring for larvae—without the need for centralized control. Indigenous tribes often distribute leadership based on wisdom, experience, and the needs of the community at any given time, rather than rigid hierarchies
2. Adaptability and Flexibility: Both ants and indigenous tribes excel at adapting to their environments. When faced with challenges, they respond quickly, adjusting their behaviour to ensure the survival and success of the group.
3. Collaboration for Mutual Benefit: Superorganisms and tribes operate with a collective goal in mind. Every action serves not just the individual but the entire group, ensuring the success of the whole.
4. Resilience through Diversity: Superorganisms thrive because of their diversity. Ant colonies include a wide range of roles, from soldiers to workers, ensuring the community can respond to different challenges. Indigenous tribes also embrace diversity, allowing them to innovate and adapt to varying environmental and social conditions.
What Drives Superorganisms and Indigenous Tribes?
At the heart of these thriving ecosystems is legacy. Superorganisms and indigenous tribes operate with a long-term perspective, ensuring the survival and prosperity of future generations. Their methods are built around principles that benefit the whole, creating resilient systems that can weather change, competition, and environmental stress.
In Teeming, Woolley-Barker explains how superorganisms are driven by the need to sustain themselves in ever-changing environments. The key is not just to survive but to build "infinite wealth", a concept that refers to wealth in terms of not just resources but collective wellbeing, sustainability, and resilience.
Similarly, indigenous tribes have long been motivated by a deep respect for the natural world and a sense of stewardship over the land. They view their actions as part of a greater cycle of reciprocity, ensuring their communities and ecosystems flourish for generations.
Applying These Principles to Your Organization
So how can your business take these timeless principles from nature and indigenous wisdom and apply them to drive revenue and success?
It’s easier than you might think:
1. Foster Distributed Leadership: Allow your team to take ownership of their roles and contribute to decision-making. Empower individuals to lead in their areas of expertise, much like the decentralized structures found in superorganisms. This creates a more agile and adaptable organization that can react to challenges quickly.
2. Embrace Flexibility and Adaptation: Like ant colonies adapting to changing food supplies or predators, your organization needs to be flexible in the face of market shifts. Encourage experimentation and quick decision-making. Cultivate a culture where employees feel comfortable pivoting and innovating to meet new challenges.
3. Promote Collaboration Over Competition: Create a culture where departments work together towards a common goal rather than competing for resources. Just as ants collaborate to build a hive or defend against threats, your teams should work in tandem, ensuring that every effort supports the overall health and growth of the organization.
4. Leverage Diversity for Resilience: Like superorganisms, your organization should embrace a diversity of thought, skills, and perspectives. Diverse teams bring new ideas, which foster innovation. This diversity strengthens your ability to respond to new challenges and seize new opportunities.
5. Prioritize Long-Term Success Over Short-Term Gains: Superorganisms and indigenous tribes are driven by sustainability. Focus on creating value not just for today but for the future. Whether it’s developing sustainable practices, investing in your workforce, or nurturing customer relationships, the long-term benefits will outweigh short-term profits.
Simple Steps to Start Implementing These Principles Today
System changes can be scary and often need to be done one step at a time. To begin embedding these powerful lessons into your business, here’s a straightforward action plan:
● Assess Leadership Structures: Look at how decisions are made in your organization. Are they centralized or distributed? Start encouraging more autonomy and responsibility at the team level.
● Encourage Cross-Department Collaboration: Break down silos and promote projects that require input and cooperation across departments. Collaborative teams naturally innovate and adapt more efficiently.
● Implement Flexible Working Models: Introduce flexible work arrangements, allowing your employees to find ways to work that maximize productivity and creativity. ● Create Diverse Hiring Practices: Ensure your recruitment and promotion strategies value diversity in skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. Diverse teams are more innovative and better equipped to solve complex problems.
● Cultivate a Long-Term Vision: Start framing business goals in terms of sustainability, growth, and long-term value creation. Train your teams to think beyond immediate targets and towards strategies that build lasting success.
ThrHive Mentality!
By learning from the highly successful ecosystems of superorganisms and Indigenous tribes, your organization can unlock its potential for sustainable, generative growth and increased revenue.
Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker’s Teeming offers valuable insights into the natural world’s time-tested strategies, showing us that businesses can thrive in even the most competitive environments by working together, embracing flexibility, and focusing on collective well-being.
The path to a resilient, thriving organization is rooted in principles that have existed for millennia—and they’re waiting for you to discover them… or, be like Microsoft, and hire a Chief Biomimicry Officer!
