Michael O’Malley is a “human capital consultant” (whatever that is) but has also been a beekeeper for the past ten years. Here’s what he’s learned about how bees organize themselves and manage risk.
Take, for example, their approach toward the “too-big-to-fail” risk our financial sector famously took on. Honeybees have a failsafe preventive for that. It’s: “Don’t get too big.” Hives grow through successive divestures or spin-offs: They swarm. When a colony gets too large, it becomes operationally unwieldy and grossly inefficient and the hive splits. Eventually, risk is spread across many hives and revenue sources in contrast to relying on one big, vulnerable “super-hive” for sustenance.
via Kottke
June 21, 2012
