Life in the Superorganism

What would it look like if we used our resources and strengths to contribute to co-creating something of great value? We might look more like a beehive. 

A bee is more than just herself, she is part of a superorganism that will exist and keep thriving even when she is gone. While human beings operate in hierarchies, the bee world could better be called a “heterarchy’, characterized by flexible, interconnected individuals with multiple, intricate relationships. 

Bees work together as a collective consciousness to produce honey. What if we could work in the same way?

There is something both magnetic and mesmerising about a beehive. Life is in motion as bees fly in and out in a constant stream. There is an order you can sense underneath the surface. And, of course, there’s a hum of activity.

A group working well together feels like this, too. When participatory practice underscores the work, people break off in small groups to attend to parts of the agenda. The group moves forward with individuals stepping forward as challenges arise and new skills are needed. Sometimes there is contemplative silence. And sometimes there’s a hum of activity.

Within a beehive, bees switch jobs when it is necessary. And they also learn on the job from other bees. This is the same behaviour I notice when we’ve created a good container for participation within a group of humans. People naturally pick up the loose ends when it is needed and take care of the collective together. It feels like the sense of identity expands beyond individual interests and begins to encompass a larger whole.

For those of us seeking to influence commitment inside a group, it pays to know about the trump cards of connection and engagement. Many years ago, I was a co host at a conference in Japan on the then UN agenda. The part I was responsible for was called “disconnection and barriers to engagement.”

At one point during our five day process, we asked our small group to conduct a pairs interview around connection and engagement. We were an uneven number of participants, so there was one group of three – two young women and a young man. The trio returned from the interview process with this harvest: The women said: “We get connected and then we get engaged.” The man said: “I get engaged and then I get connected.”

I’ve remembered that moment ever since because it demonstrated to me that different ways of working are needed to create commitment in people. Some people need to get connected first. They need to get a sense of understanding of the others. They need to gather together and buzz around getting to know people and more deeply understand the focus. 

Others are more action oriented. They need a role or a way to contribute before they fully step in. Inviting them out of the consumer mindset and into participation is a way to step beyond the critique so often found in groups and into curiosity.

How can we help people to work together more like bees? What could the beehive metaphor bring into your work?

--Mary Alice