What can your organization learn from a honey bee hive?
A honey bee hive typically consists of thousands of workers, several hundred drones and a single queen; a beehive is the perfect example of a complex system. Survival and reproduction is the responsibility of the entire hive. Whilst the size of a hive can increase to a maximum of 60.000 workers, so does the efficiency of the hive.
The hive is led by the collective of worker bees; they have specialized structures, to perform all the labors of the hive. The worker bees also secure that there is only a single queen, which is treated as such.
The primary function of the queen is reproduction. When an older queen begins to fail to deliver on her primary function, the hive prepares to raise a new queen.
A beehive is the perfect example of a complex system of social insects
The drones do not perform any useful work for the hive, except to fertilize the queen, which is done early spring. When cold weather emerges, the worker bees force the exit of the drones, because the drones have no added value for the hive during this time.
The structure and order of a beehive ensures that every individual bee has an added value for the collective. The structure is self-regulating, prevents chaos and anarchy, whilst ensuring that the system remains stable, innovative and holds its vitality.
On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate your organizational systems to enhance self-regulation, vitality and innovation?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
What can your organization learn from a honey bee hive?
A honey bee hive typically consists of thousands of workers, several hundred drones and a single queen; a beehive is the perfect example of a complex system. Survival and reproduction is the responsibility of the entire hive. Whilst the size of a hive can increase to a maximum of 60.000 workers, so does the efficiency of the hive.
The hive is led by the collective of worker bees; they have specialized structures, to perform all the labors of the hive. The worker bees also secure that there is only a single queen, which is treated as such.
The primary function of the queen is reproduction. When an older queen begins to fail to deliver on her primary function, the hive prepares to raise a new queen.
A beehive is the perfect example of a complex system of social insects
The drones do not perform any useful work for the hive, except to fertilize the queen, which is done early spring. When cold weather emerges, the worker bees force the exit of the drones, because the drones have no added value for the hive during this time.
The structure and order of a beehive ensures that every individual bee has an added value for the collective. The structure is self-regulating, prevents chaos and anarchy, whilst ensuring that the system remains stable, innovative and holds its vitality.
On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate your organizational systems to enhance self-regulation, vitality and innovation?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
