First of all, their uniform rocks – yellow and black is strong. They are a meaty insect with excellent engineering. They exert just enough effort to get the job done but in an instant can move quickly. They are focused. They work independently. There is a common team goal. If you want to learn more about these cool creatures, there has been a study on the DNA of the bumble or honey bee.
I was on a conference call recently and decided to do it in the backyard of my home office. At one point in the call someone asked me something and I went on about bees. After everyone finally believed me that I hadn’t been drinking copious amounts of alcohol at 10am, I made my point. In fact it was one of those moments where it helped what we were discussing.
Often we think our people are all the same – a subject from a previous blog post – but we know they are not. But why I love bees is because they have bought in to the plan. Their individual skills are paramount to the success of the team; they are left to work their part of the plan on their own. I’m not sure if bees have conference calls or team building meetings but somehow the communication is solid and the plan is carried out.
They can hover like a helicopter and fly like an F-16 at the same time. It is a marvel to watch them work. You can stand right next to them and they won’t even flinch. They are focused. They are not threatened by you and they won’t sting you if you leave them to their toil.
They are not bogged down by politics or egos or backstabbing or emotions. They are there for a job, they have mutual respect for each other, and they get it done.
Perhaps you can score an idea or two from simply observing life? No, I have not been drinking.
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