Can bioteaming improve your well being
Stumble It!The theory of Biophilia, put forward by Edward Wilson, author of Journey to the Ants, suggests that human well-being and health is dependent on our relationships with the natural environment. New clinical research by Howard Frumkin of Emory University in Atlanta seems to back this up.
In, Do animals induce a sense of wellbeing? we read how In a paper published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2001, public health scientist Howard Frumkin of Emory University, Atlanta, reviews the evidence for the health benefits of four kinds of contact with the natural environment: contact with animals, plants, wilderness and viewing landscapes.
Frumkin also pointed to research which showed that:
- Pet owners have fewer health problems than non-pet owners.
- Patients waiting for dental surgery experience a clinically significant drop in blood pressure after staring at fish in an aquarium for 20 minutes.
- Children with autism who were allowed to play with dogs became more verbal and engaged with therapists.
Perhaps there is a whole new dimension to bioteams as yet unexplored - stretching its focus from how teams can learn from nature's best teams to how human communities of all forms can co-exist to mutual benefit with nature in the broadest possible sense?
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Bioteams Books Reviews
The Organizational Zoo
I was introduced to an interesting book and web site, The Organizational Zoo, by Arthur Shelley which offers humorous observations of the characteristics and behaviours of the other creatures in your "organizational Zoo".
Buy it now from:
Amazon.Com
Amazon.Co.UK
Related Collaboration Research & Science Articles
The 15 Coolest Cases of Biomimicry
Brainz.org has a very good article which gives 15 excellent examples of designs inspired by nature (biomimicry or biomimetics).
Swarm behavior and organizational teams
Frank Lacombe of the Evolutionary and Swarm Design Group at the University of Calgary offers a good introduction to the concept of Swarm Behavior. Using examples of ants, bees, birds, fish, and termites he identifies the two main advantages of such decentralized systems: robustness and flexibility. The objective of bioteaming is to realise these same two swarm behavior advantages in organisational teams and inter-organisational business networks.
Wikipedia as a Multi Agent System
Here is an interesting article which uses Wikipedia as an example of a collaborative multi-agent system (MAS) involving both human and non-human agents. The same approach could be used to map any collaborative system.
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