Lessons from flocking birds and termite colonies
How a purpose-aligned minority can move a crowd
The key of coherence is beautifully demonstrated in the spontaneous self-organization we witness when birds flock or fish move in schools. What’s more, this holds a key to how we can change complex systems such as divided societies, unsustainable economies, or toxic politics.
When we apply the natural phenomenon of murmuration (flocks of birds moving together) to social systems, we find that a purpose-aligned minority (anything from 5 to 25 percent) can move a random crowd toward a common goal, even without coordination.[i] [ii]
When you join a flock and add your voice—or more powerfully, your actions—you amplify a movement. And movements, representing shifting social norms, are what ultimately change complex systems.
My favourite examples of coherence are ant colonies. Ants, much like bees, display incredibly sophisticated social structures. The colony self-organizes to forage for food, defend the nest against intruders, cultivate farms of mushrooms underground, feed the queen and her offspring, take out the trash (literally, there is a special area for disposing of waste), and lay their deceased to rest in an ant cemetery. And all of this takes place without a leader. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the queen is directing her minions; she is just laying eggs. How is this possible for individual ants with brains a million times smaller than those of humans?
This emergent coherence is one of the seemingly miraculous characteristics of complex living systems. Ant biologist Deborah Gordon has spent much of her academic career studying this phenomenon. Based on her scientific observations, she has derived five principles necessary for self-organisation to occur:[iii]
Grow your group. There has to be a critical mass of individuals for the system to self-organise—that is, there is a minimum threshold of complexity needed for the system to function effectively as a collective.
See ignorance as useful. Although living systems may be complex, the operating principles or guiding instructions need to be simple. In the case of ants, their language consists of around 10 distinctive pheromone signals.
Encourage random encounters. High levels of individual freedom give each individual a chance to experience different parts of the whole system, while also increasing the likelihood of discovering new risks or opportunities.
Look for patterns in the signs. Organization in a system depends not only on lots of interaction among individuals but also on the ability to detect how frequently different kinds of encounters occur.
Pay attention to your neighbours. No individual needs to have a big-picture overview of the system; it is enough to exchange local information with lots of individuals that you meet along the way.
The key to thriving is to ensure that there is coherence in the system, which is ultimately about collaboration. In social systems, having leaders who can articulate a shared goal will certainly help, but it is worth remembering that people—much like slime mold, ants, or birds—can and do self-organize to create coherent action.
Source: Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement to Regenerate Nature, Society, and the Economy
[i] University of Leeds, “Sheep in Human Clothing: Scientists Reveal Our Flock Mentality,” ScienceDaily, February 16, 2008.
[ii] E. Yong, “The Tipping Point When Minority Views Take Over,” The Atlantic, June 7, 2018.
[iii] Cited in S. Johnson, Emergence.
Dr Wayne Visser is holder of the Galp Chair and a Professor of Practice in Regenerative Business, Innovation and Technology at Católica Porto Business School, as well as a Fellow and Head Program Instructor at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership