Crows and the art of communication

We've all heard it, "Kaawww-aww" the deep throaty call of one crow to another, often with a corresponding response from some far distance. Crows are highly intelligent and have a complex and sophisticated social system. They can be heard keeping in contact with members of their family group (or murder, for those in the know), informing each other on their comings and goings. Crows have particular calls for hunger, danger, and many other types of complex activities.

"Increasingly, scientists agree that it isn't physical need that makes animals smart, but social necessity. Group living tends to be a complicated business, so for individuals to prosper they need to understand exactly what's going on. So highly social creatures like dolphins, chimps, and humans tend to be large-brained and intelligent." National Geographic

What does this have to do with business?

Well, your business is a form of group living, at least for a large part of each day. So, what are the vertical communication channels in your business and are they formal, or informal? How good is the communication between your team members? Do they update each other on where they are up to on a particular project? Do they (and you) call out for help or give feedback? Are you 'aware' of each other?

What other lessons does the crow hold for us?

Well they are masters of tools;

"One species, the New Caledonian Crow, has been intensively studied recently because of its ability to manufacture and use its own tools in the day-to-day search for food. These tools include 'knives' cut from stiff leaves and stiff stalks of grass. Another skill involves dropping tough nuts into a heavy trafficked street and waiting for a car to crush them open, and then waiting at pedestrian lights with other pedestrians in order to retrieve the nuts. On October 5, 2007, researchers from the University of Oxford, England presented data acquired by mounting tiny video cameras on the tails of New Caledonian Crows. It turned out that they use a larger variety of tools than previously known, plucking, smoothing and bending twigs and grass stems to procure a variety of foodstuffs. Crows in Queensland, Australia have learned how to eat the toxic cane toad by flipping the cane toad on its back and violently stabbing the throat where the skin is thinner, allowing the crow to access the non-toxic innards; their long beaks ensure that all of the innards can be removed."

Source: Wikipedia

What tools could you be using for greater productivity?

Perhaps using guerrilla marketing to capture passing street trade; or re-purposing items you already have. Have a look around you with fresh eyes, and see what opportunities exist. Maybe you've been encountering a problem for some time now, and instead of tackling it head on why not try turning it upside down and viewing it from a different angle?

There are lessons to be found everywhere in this wonderful world of ours. To get you going, check out these team lessons based on the flight patterns of geese.

Have you already applied some insights from nature in your business? If you'd care to share, email me and I'll send a copy of Fish! by Stephen Lundin to the most innovative solution.

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