In what is apparently a shocking admission of guilt, Tom Porter, author of All I Need To Know About Business I Learned From A Duck, confessed that he heisted each and every concept that appear in his book. When asked how he could justify such a seemingly deplorable act Mr. Porter calmly responded, “ For years and years, engineers and architects have been pirating information and intelligence from the natural world however, they proudly admit to being thieves. So today I too admit to absconding with ingenious concepts that don’t belong to me (they belong to Mother Nature) and applying them to solving business problems. In a word I acknowledge that I am a Biomimic!”
The best known practitioner of Biomimicry is Janine Benyus who, as you’ll see in the video below, defines Biomimicry as “innovation inspired by nature”. An example is the Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe where outside temperatures range from 35 degrees F at night to 104 degrees F during the day. Eastgate is the country’s largest office and shopping complex and has no conventional air-conditioning or heating, yet stays regulated year round because it has a ventilation system that replicates the air circulation design created in termite mounds.
Porter says he has taken biomimicry which until now has been utilized primarily to design products, processes and policies that are sustainable, save energy and eliminates waste and expanded its application to inspiring innovation in the world of business. What innovations could your company create next year and beyond if you successfully integrated the following laws, strategies and principles of nature into your business plan?
• Nature fits form to function.
• Nature uses only the energy it needs.
• Nature rewards cooperation.
• Nature recycles everything.
• Nature banks on diversity.
• Nature demands local expertise.
• Nature curbs excesses from within.
• Nature taps the power of limits.
By the way, it’s okay to steal any of the ideas presented in this article. After 3.8 billion years we’re pretty sure Mother Nature’s patent has expired.
NOTE: To learn more about Biomimicry click HERE.
