What would a bee do?

Bees are truly sophisticated creatures, and we can learn a lot about leadership from the way they organise work.

Let's look at the Five Key Takeaways from the bee's empire, that we can take to improve our organisation, and the way we lead:

1. Bees Protect the Future.  The colony have internalised a very important rule of nature: Someday the nectar in the location we are at, will stop flowing, so we need to be prepared to rapidly reallocate resources to other productive sites.
2. Decentralization is the hallmarks of the honeybee colony. Those closest to the information make the relevant decision. But, when we think of shifting the greater power from the the core into the field, we should consider this first:

• Bees have clear goals;
• They are empowered field leaders;
• They are excellent communicators;
• They know how to quickly pick up an information—and transform that information into coordinated action;
• They are reliable workers who are very good at what they do.

3. The Order and Innovation Co-exist. The system bees have is reliable, and much of the activity of bees is a constant that exists so they can find their way home. Constants do not drive out originality; they make it possible.…An organisation must adopt few core principles, that make the system as a whole more reliable. Also, when several solutions exists as a consequence of the fast changing, complex settings, organisation allows the variability—but never to the point of disorder. 

4. Keep The Diversity Balance.  The genetic diversity of the bees within the same hives ensure the necessary sensitivity to environmental conditions. Similar, to keep the organisation sensitive to changes, leaders need to hire capable people with a range of perspectives and world views, and take time to select people who are naturally inquisitive and who have varied interests. 

5. Leadership Is Crucial. The honeybee teaches us this: At the top of the colony is a high-quality queen. No organisation can survive without a leader or with bad leadership on the top. Why? The workers pay close attention to the leaders, and they mirror leader's behaviour.

Take two key things into consideration:

• Worker's performance is proportionally sensitive to declines in leader's performance.
• Leadership depends on the consent, and willingness of the people to follow.

Maybe we can take what bees do so good, and apply in our organisations. They do answer, with ease, the question so relevant today: How can large, diverse groups work together harmoniously and productively?

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