My dad is a beekeeper and last week I helped him relocate a colony to a new hive.
We chatted about Bees and he shared some fascinating details on how the Queen empowers her bees to self organize and autonomously work together.
As a Bee goes through it’s short life of 6-8 weeks, it takes on different roles in the hives. Depending the age of the bee and situation within the hive.
It starts as a cleaner Bee looking after cells, then a nurse bee looking after the young bees, then a guard bee against predators, then a forager collecting pollen.
If the hive is threatened or the queen decides to move, under the watch of the Queen, all the Bees change role to protect the hive or swarm and relocate to a better home.
This self organization and switching roles is a leadership lesson.
I used to think Tech roles we fixed. This works well for predictable, repetitive roles but in today’s agile business environment, adapting and adjusting your work within a track works better.
For example, when upgrading a complex ERP system, I provided a Definition of Done to my Integration Manager and they defined the scope, strategy and test cases for the 132 integrations. We then check and aligned the work within the overall goals and schedule of the ERP upgrade project.
When you’re team defines their roles, it creates engagement, empowerment and they’re invested in the outcome.
