Not all Collaboration is Created Equal. Just Ask the Ocean.

On a recent trip to Bermuda, I was inspired by the different types of collaborative behavior exhibited by the marine life that I observed.

Coral reefs are formed by secretions of hundreds of thousands of tiny polyps living together in stable community.  While they form formidable structures, the individual stony coral separate the polyps from the other members of the colony.   They are extremely sensitive to small changes in the environment, and one major storm can cause irreparable damage to the entire reef.  Just like at many major companies today, a lack of communication and an inability to quickly adapt to a new environment can quickly wipe out years of hard work.

You’ve probably heard of the poisonous jellyfish called the Portuguese Man-O’-War.  But you probably didn’t know it isn’t actually a jellyfish, but rather a closely coordinated colony of four highly specialized organisms (“zooids”) that are incapable of surviving without each other. Like an organization with specialized PR, marketing, sales, and IT departments, each of the zooids performs a specific task. The Man-O’-War is feared for the occasional impact it can have on humans, but for the most part it’s simply ignored.  And with no means of active propulsion, the Man-O’-War can’t control what direction it’s headed in – leaving it vulnerable to factors beyond its control.

Schools of fish are social groups that function almost as one entity.   Through highly coordinated activities, the fish can swim more efficiently, find food more easily, and defend against predators more successfully.  And just like fish, when employees begin to collaborate effectively, they’ll be able to work more efficiently, bring in new business more easily, and guard against competition more successfully.  The problem is, the goal of schools is to maintain the status quo.  Fish lack any sort of long-term plan beyond fulfilling their basic needs and only join schools to benefit their own self-interests.

Finally, there are dolphins, the most advanced of the social marine animals.   They work together in close-knit groups, but often collaborate with other pods.  Their communities maintain distinct cultures that foster extreme loyalty.  They help each other by communicating regularly.  They share learned behaviors and even experiment with and adopt simple tools.  In an ideal world, this is how employees at large corporations would work together.  Close collaboration amongst smaller divisions would create loyalty, but employees would freely work with other departments to benefit the company.  By communicating regularly and effectively, employees would share knowledge that would improve how others do their jobs.  And, of course, they would experiment with and adopt the newest social tools, further improving process efficiency across the corporation.

Which creature are you? Any dolphins out there?  Are there any more ‘animals’ to add to the list?