Saskia van den Muijsenberg is a biomimicrist and TED speaker (watch her talk here).  Biomimicry is an approach to problem solving that uses nature’s time-tested strategies.

Here’s a familiar example – an idea that forever changed shoes and inspired the invention of moon boots.

A man named George de Mestral was walking his dog.  He noticed that burrs were stuck to his socks, pants, and dog’s fur.  Looking under a microscope, he found that burrs have tiny hooks that by themselves are not strong, but in large numbers can be very strong.  So he invented a synthetic burr – what we now call Velcro.

There’s a lot we can learn from the world around us.  I asked Saskia what nature can teach us about teams.

Typically, the organizations that we’re a part of are hierarchical.  There is a group of people that establishes and enforce rules, policies, and procedures.  Sometimes there are so many rules that it can be difficult to know if you’re doing what you should be.

While rules are necessary, nature handles bureaucracy a bit differently.

Take geese – I was surprised to find out that there is no such thing as a “head goose” and no single goose knows an entire migration path.  But there are a few simple rules that geese use to work together:

• stay a certain distance apart from each other
• form a V
• when the goose in front gets tired, have another goose take its place

Termites are another example of teams that work together.  They build huge columns of sand, sometimes 3 times the size of people, with complex tunnels and ventilation systems.  But they do this with just a few simple instructions.  Put a piece of sand in place until that column is built, move onto the next one.
Just a few simple rules.

Saskia told me about a school that implemented a few simple rules, one being to respect the school itself.  So on a rainy day when the kids came in from the playground with muddy shoes, they removed them at the door.  There’s no policy on muddy shoes, but there is a general understanding of respect for the school’s property.

For a mom of two, this sounds like a dream.  That’s probably because I haven’t mentioned the other piece that makes simple rules a success – feedback.

The geese and termites are constantly getting feedback from their surroundings.  They know if it’s time to land  in a pond or build the next column of sand.  And the kids at the school would certainly hear feedback about their decisions, especially if they kept muddy shoes on.

By having a set of simple rules and feedback, teams can work toward a goal without the need to frequently check in with a superior.  Individuals are empowered to make contributions and don’t have to wait for someone else to tell them what to do.

While our goals are very different from geese and termites, nature can give us a new perspective on how we can work better together.