Yesterday was my 59th birthday. I celebrated by climbing up high into the mountains above Santa Fe, feeling fortunate for being born at a time of year when nature so beautifully marks the ending of a season and the start of a new one, and reflecting on my own rotation around the sun.
As a gardener, I’ve learned that my purposeful action does not always yield a definitive result. I may walk into the kitchen on this August afternoon, holding a firm red tomato in my hand, delighted by my harvest. I’m proud of this tomato as if I created its aroma, smooth skin and the juices within. But […]
As we walked in a fog-moistened forest on the side of Mount Tam, Janine Benyus, author of Biomimicry – Innovation Inspired by Nature, was excitedly showing me the elegant connectedness of the whole system – an interwoven living network of organisms that she calls “the wood-wide web.” We were talking about using biomimicry for social […]
In order to survive, all organisms are intimately attuned to their environment, aligned with the realities of that particular place and the other living beings with whom they interact. Their success depends on being able to fit within the larger context and then adapt as conditions change. The challenges of any particular environment – temperature, […]
We have an idea about nature being competitive – this is a misunderstanding of what “survival of the fittest” actually means. It doesn’t suggest that whoever is the most dominant and can outperform others is at an advantage. Yet this false understanding has influenced our economy, our organizational behaviors, our funding strategies, and our outreach […]
Life is constantly communicating – both within and across species. Signaling and responding. Feedback loops provide important information to help organisms and systems appropriately respond to change. Like clover, strawberries send out “runners” – horizontal stems that bud into new plants while maintaining a relationship with the parent. When nibbled by a rabbit or a […]
The Octopus is a champion of adaptability, learning to survive and thrive in almost any environment. With a soft meaty body that is attractive to predators, they’ve found all kinds of ways to hide and protect themselves, including learning to forage the coconut shells discarded from tourist boats. They pull together two halves to make […]
The tricky thing about learning leadership from nature is that in the natural world, no one is in charge. There is no ED or CEO in nature, and yet very complex tasks are accomplished. Life builds from the bottom up, guided by simple rules and adapting through feedback loops. Complex challenges are sorted out among […]
We think of evolution as being only about change – but it’s also about repeating successful approaches and institutionalizing the adaptations that work. What works to help the species survive and thrive is passed on to the next generation. Those adaptations that make the organism less fit get weeded out over time. If a strategy […]
Biomimicry for Social Innovation is a platform for the exchange of ideas, insights, and services for applying nature’s intelligence toward a thriving and regenerative human society.