Don't try to turn a shark into a vegetarian(01 of10)
Open Image ModalSharks will always try to eat other fish. That's what they do. If we are a fish in shark filled waters, we can do our best to avoid the shark or trick the shark, but there will always be sharks and the risk of predation out there. Too often in society we confuse risk with specific challenges. We can solve individual problems, but our world will always be full of risk. We can, with a lot of effort, eliminate smallpox, but infectious disease will always be present. When we declare wars on drugs, on terrorism, on invasive species or on illegal immigration we are trying to turn sharks into vegetarians rather than dealing with the immediate challenges that drug addiction, terrorists, movement of species around the globe, and economic and political inequalities present. (credit:Wikimedia)
Be a beetle(02 of10)
Open Image ModalThe biologist J.B.S. Haldane, when asked what all his studies told him about the Creator, reportedly replied, "He has an inordinate fondness for beetles." Beetles have been an evolutionary success story because they've diversified the many identical appendages of their ancestors into specialized tools that do many different things, like fly, walk, stab, capture, and shoot poison gas, so they can solve many different problems. The most successful organisms in nature use "creative redundancy" to solve problems - that is, they have a lot of different ways to solve certain problems so that they always have a solution at hand. How can you change things that are merely redundant in your life into specialized tools? (credit:Wikimedia)
Stop giving orders(03 of10)
Open Image ModalAlmost all natural organisms have a decentralized organization. They trust many independent sensors (like the cells in your immune system - pictured below) to observe the world, detect problems and come up with solutions to those problems, without a lot of central control. In society, we tend to let small centralized groups of supposed "experts" tell us what to do. This almost always results in the wrong problem and the wrong solution being identified. To create an organization that solves problems like nature, we need to switch from giving orders to issuing challenges. When 3M wanted to reduce its environmental footprint, for example, the CEO didn't order everyone to recycle 20% more, but he challenged everyone in every department to suggest ways that they could be greener, resulting in billions of dollars saved and huge reductions in pollutants and energy use. Instead of giving an order and expecting everyone to follow, issue a challenge that makes everyone a problem solver. This activates the natural organization of multiple independent problem solvers. It also gives ownership of the problem to everyone, not just you. What's your challenge? (credit:Wikimedia)
Learn from success(04 of10)
Open Image ModalA lot of business books tell us to learn from failures, One article from the 1990s in Harvard Business Review even praised BP as a company that learns well from failure. BP undoubtedly leaned a lot from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but little help that is for the 11 people who died in the explosion, the fishermen who lost their livelihoods or the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. In nature, failure means you die (or at least didn't get to reproduce). Every living organism is an example of learning from success. The best of these pass on their success to their own offspring. Learning from failure may prepare you for the disaster that already passed, but learning from success gives you a proven template from which to build more successes. How can you reward success and learn from it? (credit:Wikimedia)
Observe like a mad elephant(05 of10)
Open Image ModalWell before the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, wild and domestic animals acted strangely: dogs wouldn't go near the water, elephants ran uphill and even "cried" warnings to tourists on the beach. Although human science has spent billions on high tech tsunami warnings, animals are still much better at it and they don't give false alarms. They do it by being extremely keen observers (and listeners and smellers) of change in their world. Too often, we trade our own keen observational skills in place for a centralized observer or group of experts that may miss the real problem or incessantly warn us about problems that really aren't that much of a threat. Are you spending enough time observing change in your world? (credit:Wikimedia)
Solve the problem that crosses the wall(06 of10)
Open Image ModalPartnerships arise in nature even between species you'd think would never work together, like sharks and smaller fish. They arise to help each species solve problems that it couldn't on its own. There are now strong partnerships between Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian health ministers working together to identify and treat infectious diseases. These partnerships weren't set up to solve the huge issue of peace in the middle east, but to tackle the immediate challenge of diseases, which don't care about walls or borders. What mutual problem could you take on together with your competitors? (credit:Wikimedia)
Rip up the agenda (07 of10)
Open Image ModalFind your Heyoka(08 of10)
Open Image ModalOrganisms in nature create working symbiotic partnerships, even with toxic bacteria and viruses. They learn to assimilate these potenitially dangerous organisms to create mutual benefits. With his dyed hair and crossdressing antics, people thought Dennis Rodman of the Chicago Bulls was toxic to team unity. But Phil Jackson coached him and the Chicago Bulls to three consecutive titles, and later Jackson (who also coached Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant) would claim that Rodman was the best player he ever coached. Jackson identified Rodman's unique role as a "Heyoka," a Lakota Indian trickster spirit that helped people look at the world differently. Heyokas are the outliers who may come up with completely unexpected solutions to problems when they are accepted into the fold. Is there a Heyoka in your world? (credit:Wikimedia)
Don't plan your fish(09 of10)
Open Image ModalOne look at the ocean sunfish Mola mola will convince you that there was no planning involved in its evolution. Who would design a fish to look like this misshapen monster? Yet it has been successful for millions of years by finding a niche (a way of living) that no other fish had exploited and solving the challenge of how to fill that niche. In fact, none of the amazing diversity of life was planned. Rather, it all arose as different ways to solve challenges in an ever changing and unpredictable world. We waste enormous time and resources trying to plan for events we think may happen in the future rather than developing our capacities to adapt as challenges arise or capitalize on new niches as they appear. Are you planning too much instead of solving problems? (credit:Wikimedia)
Don't go to war with the army you have(10 of10)
Open Image ModalAdaptable organisms quickly change to face new challenges in their world. Too often we assume that if we have adequate skills and resources to solve a problem today, they will be adequate tomorrow. Early in the Iraq war when troops tried to tell Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that despite their superior firepower, their equipment and armor was inadequate for the new threat of improvised explosives (IEDs), he testily replied, "you go to war with the Army you have". It took the centrally controlled Department of Defense three more years to deploy mine resistant vehicles in Iraq, and bomb makers quickly adapted bomb designs to work against these vehicles. IED deaths ultimately resulted in half the combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are you resisting change in the face of changing challenges? (credit:Wikimedia)