Did ants invent the perfect mobile communications system
Ants interact using a system known as pheromones, involving sending 'chemical messages' to their community through smell and taste. It is also one of the oldest and most sophisticated forms of group communication on the planet with many features today's mobile and virtual teams would die for!

Picture Source: http://bio.kuleuven.be/ento/photo_gallery.htm
Army ants from Kenya forming impressive raiding columns consisting of up to 20 million workers.
To read the full article on the NESTA Website click here
See also Why Penguins have no commanding officer.
Tags: ants, messaging, pheromones, self-managed teams
Bioteams Books Reviews
Organisational teams: thin slice for responsiveness
Humans and animals do not need complete information to act; they can operate on various clues provided there is a sufficient context. Organizational teams can also use this thin slicing technique in conjunction with short messaging to enhance their performance. Malcolm Gladwell’s introspective book Blink digs deep into the abyss of human cognition to illustrate the human ability to think at a subconscious level. The idea of thin slicing is used where one is introduced to only a few snippets of information which lead to a series of conclusions based on moments of rapid cognition – an ability claimed to be intrinsically dormant in most humans. By bioteams guest author Max Bhanabhai.
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