Awe of Nature
Last week my wife Kim and I hiked part of the Cape-to-Cape trail in the Margaret River – a place to nourish one’s soul.
Along the way we took every opportunity to stop, see and share in the natural beauty and wonders before us.
Between Smith’s Beach and Moses Rock, we came across what appeared to be an abandoned, half-built ant hill. Curiosity got the better of us, so we stopped to look closely – what we saw left us in awe of nature.
We were mesmerised by the millions of ants coordinating action to achieve a common and shared goal. I reflected on what lessons teams could learn from observing ants in action. Three came to mind:
Power of Alignment – to achieve the greatest things possible, requires the alignment of everyone’s attention, energy and action towards a common and shared objective.
Power in Collaboration – each ant had purpose and selflessly contributed towards creating something only possible by working interdependently.
Power through Communications – the ants were continuously communicating amongst themselves. What appeared to be chaotic was a highly coordinated approach to securing each other’s cooperation and commitment to a shared goal.
I invite when you next walk in nature, stop and see what lessons nature is offering. Michael Singer, author of the Living Untethered, said, “everything you learn makes you smarter, every experience you have makes you wiser”.
Just thought I’d let you know I’m hosting a virtual discussion on Friday 10 June at 10h00 AEST where I will share more about how teams rise and fall based on the quality of their working relationships. I’d love you to join me and to get a link to the virtual meet, click here.
Take care
Bernard