Showing posts with label metaphors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metaphors. Show all posts

20 June 2016

Startup teams behave like packs of wolves. And that's a good thing!

George ILIEV's new TEDx talk explores what wolves, green bananas & bird shit can teach us about ourselves, human society and the corporate world:


In brief:

1. Wolves epitomise startup culture: teamwork and sharing. While dogs are a metaphor for corporate culture: hierarchy, domination and submission.

2. Fruit ripening is like lifelong learning. Some people keep learning new skills over their lifetime, just as some fruit (bananas, apples, mangoes) keep ripening after being picked. Others don't: oranges, strawberries and grapes can ripen no further once detached from the stalk.

3. Investment bankers have something in common with bird excrement. Seeds that go through a bird's digestive system are four times more likely to germinate. Similarly, high-pressure jobs make people resilient and release their full potential.

Think about it next time you have a cup of Kopi Luwak coffee.

For the full stories, watch the TED video.


19 May 2016

TEDx Kent talk on wolves, bananas and bird shit

By George ILIEV

The three stories in this 14-minute TED talk draw parallels between:

     1) Packs of wolves and startup culture (vs. dogs and corporate culture);
     2) Green bananas and lifelong learning;
     3) Bird excrement and investment bankers.

Metaphors helps us understand the world better because "only 1/6 of your eyeball faces the outside world."


8 August 2012

Introduction to Corporate Nature

CorporateNature is a blog exploring parallels between nature and business. Many patterns and systems in nature seem to be replicated in social organisations and in the corporate world. Concepts from evolution, game theory, agency theory, etc. appear applicable in both nature and in business, though I do not seek to establish causal relationships. My goal is to examine and research these common patterns at a conceptual, metaphorical level.

I hope some of the topics will pique your interest and make you leave a comment or send me an email. I would appreciate your feedback and your help in spotting the fractals in a fractal world.

George
george.iliev@alumni.lse.ac.uk