Ant Colony Enterprises (ACE) was a well known successful operation. Its members were found in many places with a well-founded reputation for industry and task-focus. Former members had split off to form related enterprises that all thrived together in an ecosystem.
One day a grasshopper cooperative called ACE about the upcoming winter.
“The nice buds I like are drying up and turning brown. I heard you were real experts at dealing with this problem?”
The ACE receptionist’s antennae twitched before replying.
“Well, Sustainability is job one here at ACE. We’re working to insulate the nest and store up food for the winter. Everything’s going to be brown and dead soon. We can’t eat it now if we need it later.”
The grasshopper paused and made a loud noise with his back two legs to hide his discomfort.
“I’ve got another question. If the buds are turning brown how are you eating?”
The ACE receptionist answered with a disagreeable tone in her voice.
“ACE doesn’t worry about buds right now because our operation is resilient. We have alternative choices, and we’re busy foraging for other items than buds. Our teams are focused on just enough for now and putting more up for winter.”
The grasshopper gratefully gave thanks for the advice and went off to change the cooperatives actions to be more sustainable. Ruefully, because the ants were sure to get there first even while leaving enough for the grasshoppers.
The next day, a butterfly called into ACE with another question –
“How are you folks handling the meadow flood? Half of the flowers I drink from have fallen into the water!”
The ACE receptionist replied,
“Actually our nest was in the flooded meadow, but we were able to move the nest five feet over. We have a whole team devoted to rapid relocation. Last year the Ant Leadership Association awarded us the Agility Prize.”
The butterfly took their leave with a sigh. Times had been good and spending effort to find more sustenance and planning just hadn’t seemed worthwhile before. Finding more flowers and keeping fed now would slow down planning migration to get thru the winter.
The actions of were the each part of ACE was affected by needs and actions of others in pursuit of their role for Agility/Resilience/Sustainability. Quick action by the move team gave Ace the Agility to deal with the flood. A developed menu of different food sources and places to forage as seasons changed p rovided Ace with Resilience whatever the time of year. A longer-term plan to deal with winter gave the Ant Colony Enterprise long term long-term sustainability.
The moral of the story is, to thrive, your enterprise must pay attention to urgent, regular, and long-term changes, or you’ll be gone by winter.
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