Why Ants?

a view inside an ant hill (a complete efficient ecosystem)

Why ants?

There’re in abundance, fire ants are in my backyard, and their cheaper to study.  Because ants have been in existence for more than 350 million years and through mutational natural selection, in their DNA that has improved their efficiency to compete relentless. No other animal or insect with the exception of bees have created such an efficient process through competition and efficiencies. There are no entitlement programs or as I would call it no artificial selection for competition. The business ecosystem is almost a zero sum game. The simple fact that it’s not a fully zero sum game.    

Why a business ecosystem?

Because business as ants compete in their specific niches through the process of natural selection. Evolution, relentless competition, co evolution in the specific DNA markets. Look at the airline industry Delta and American Airlines will coexist to make sure that their customer arrives at the destination. Meaning one airline will help the other to make sure the customer arrives at its destination.

What business ecosystem or cluster of the insurance industry?

Well I went to school and lived in Hartford Connecticut for about 25 years, and Hartford is still considered the insurance capital of the world. Actually in walking distance you can visit seven insurance businesses that compete relentlessly in their specific market niche. Hartford has 7% of its workforce that work for these specific ant mounds or clusters that compose of over 65,000 employees throughout the state. It has the highest concentration of actuary’s in la USA per concentration of population. Actuaries are their core competencies for their business DNA.

What is your goal?

My goal is to help change the mechanical thinking that our economy is planned rather than evolving, organic sporadic order, where companies find their true genetic DNA advantage through improvements of in natural Selection. Meaning companies can achieve always better efficiencies while improving their natural selection of relentless and efficient competition. For example, Pollution = Inefficiency, companies that pollute should always considerer closed loop systems to eliminate inefficiencies. In Holland companies use closed loop systems to eliminate pollution by creating efficiencies. Ants over millions of years have created efficiencies by creating the most efficient body structure, communication system as a whole. Ants are not efficient as individuals, but as swarm working together, they can build ant mounds that can structure in comparison to the Great Wall of China.

                If entrepreneurs can think in this process and believe that they are part of an evolving business ecosystem, the dynamics of that environment will improve the overall communities in which the compete and live. I.e. Silicon Valley is another great example of fascinating dynamic business ecosystem where each business coevolves in the process of relentless competition until shake outs occur within their business ecosystem.