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How often have you heard a corporate leader ask “but why don’t they just listen and do what I say”, or the hard-working manager bemoaning the “ignorant leaders who live on another planet”?
We often struggle in corporate environments, despite our best intentions. We struggle to align conflicting needs, styles, egos and aspirations. Our bookshelves are loaded with both scholarly reviews and popular self-help guides. We have scores of good MBA classes, teaching advanced business insight and skills. Yet, if you walk the street, or meet in the school parking lot, or listen to the myriad of conversations happening at your next cocktail party, you will hear the pain of those trying to work at all levels in corporate settings.
Human social structure, particularly in work settings, closely resembles biologic systems and structures. The circumstance of a self-employed artisan who runs a thriving solo business closely resembles the modus operandi of a single-celled organism found in nature. At the other end of the spectrum, the complex organizational structure, and the norms, rules and processes that govern a large corporation are very similar to the functional biology of a large mega-cellular organism, such as an elephant or whale, or even Homo sapiens (that’s you and I).
But here’s the interesting question. When last did you hear your adrenal gland moaning about the intrusive presence of the pituitary gland that governs its function? Or when was the last time you heard your neighbor’s sinoatrial node (that’s the natural pacemaker that controls our beating heart) complaining that it simply couldn’t get the heart muscle to cooperate?
It is clear that nature has found a way to make it work. It has taken millennia of evolutionary adaptation to get where we are today as successful organisms. So why not learn from nature?
On this site, you will find examples and parallels that you may find useful as you navigate your own workplace or career path. Whether solo operator or boardroom champion, these natural analogues will help you to better understand the opportunities and challenges of your workplace. Contact me if you’d like to learn more about our BioSimilars Programs, where we will custom select a species or ecosystem that best mirrors your own workplace, and will bring in leading scientists to help you enhance the performance of your team or company.