The Answers are Out There ...

Now, what's the Question?

There is a biblical saying that  "there is nothing new under the sun" which can be interpreted as 'what has happened before will happen again'; it emphasises the ongoing cyclical nature of human experience and endeavour. It also suggests that despite our technological advances, our underlying human nature remains constant; over distance and time, when faced with challenges, humans tend to come up with similar solutions.  And certainly as a consultant, I can see that many modern management models and theories are in fact much older ideas, and well proven approaches, that have perhaps been wrapped in modern terminology.   I see many companies grappling with the same questions, many of which have been solved elsewhere and elsewhen.

And while we can look at the legacy of human endeavour for many answers to today's questions, there is a much richer and older source of inspiration and ideas that could help us solve many of our more tactical and systemic challenges.    And that is the natural world around us.  Over millions or billions of years of evolution, living organisms have already found efficient and well-adapted solutions to a whole myriad of problems and challenges, and we humans can learn from these to add innovation in our own designs and processes.

Here are some of nature's great inventions that have been incorporated into everyday human endeavour:

• Velcro was inspired by the way burrs stick to animal fur; the Velcro mimics the tiny hooks found on burr surfaces.
• Sharkskin has inspired materials that reduce drag in water (for swimsuits and boats) and surfaces that resist bacterial growth.
• Lotus leaves have self-cleaning properties which repel water and dirt due to their micro- and nano-structured surface.  This has led to the development of self-cleaning paints, coatings, and fabrics.
• Geckos have the ability to climb smooth surfaces and this has inspired the creation of dry adhesives that can support significant weights and can be easily removed and reused without leaving residues.

 While these are some very specific and product oriented solutions, nature is inspiring us at more systemic, organisational, and societal level too:

• Some buildings are being designed to mimic the natural cooling mechanisms of termite mounds and using the structural efficiency of honeycomb patterns found in bee hives.
• Swarm intelligence, the collective behaviour of social insects like bees, ants, and termites, can be applied to improve decision-making, logistics, and problem-solving in organisations. This encourages decentralised and self-organised systems that can improve efficiency, adaptability and agility in a fast moving world.
• Mycelium Networks (mycelium is the vegetative part of fungi). These are intricate, efficient networks that can spread over large areas of forest, and have inspired models for improving communication and information flow within organizations. Just as mycelium efficiently distributes nutrients and information throughout the fungal community, organisations can design their communication networks to ensure fast, effective dissemination of information across various levels and departments.
• Circular Economies mirror the closed-loop systems of natural ecosystems, where waste from one process becomes food for another; circular economies aim to minimize waste and make the most of resources. The circular economy model encourages companies to design products for reuse, recycling, and up-cycling, creating a more sustainable economic system that reduces the environmental impact.

Those are just a few of many examples. Some are new and leading edge, some are very familiar to us.  

 

“What if, every time I started to invent something, I asked, ‘How would nature solve this?’”

"Nature offers us a sanctified portfolio of products and processes that have been field-tested and market-proven over an R&D period of 3.8 billion years."

Janine Benyus, Biologist and a leader in the field of biomimicry 

 

Whatever your challenge or question, the answer is probably out there somewhere; sure, some tweaking may be needed to adapt the answer to your unique circumstances.  The enduring question remains not of the availability of answers but of our willingness to seek them in the wisdom of the world around us, to creatively adapt and apply them.   

By the nature of our work, consultants have very broad exposure to both the questions and the answers - we don't by any means have all the answers, but we often know how to go about finding out.  Give us a call.

 

Graham