What Fortune 500 CEOs can learn from an AT&T engineer who took up beekeeping

Bees, being pollinators, help prepare one in three bites of food that humans eat. Bees achieve this through a distinct governance structure in which the queen sets the tone for her hive’s characteristics and culture, but wisely leans on the advice of an older generation of worker bees – acting as a board of directors that guides the row and file. of the colony.

Beekeeping distills the key tools you need to manage innovation cycles: how to sustain growth at new levels of scale; nurturing team strengths and development; and the importance of establishing a culture of enthusiasm. But perhaps more unexpectedly than anything else, you learn not to focus too much on the honey and instead keep your primary focus on building the best bee box.

The box is your organization

Why the Polar Star box? Why not honey? Well, if you only think about honey and don’t prepare for future harvests and talent pools, the hive would have no food reserves and could suffer from massive desertions. If you don’t increase the box when it gets to about 80%, half of your bees will leave and start another hive because they think the job is done. If you make it too big, they will run out. We learn six key innovation lessons from prioritizing the box over the honey.

• Promotion and development of talent: When your talent reaches 80% mastery of their role, you should promote them and have them train someone in their old role. They have shown that they can be successful in your organization, and you want to make it clear that yours is an environment that offers perennial teachings. Bees naturally want to swarm. This is how they grow. But amazingly, once the nectar starts, the bees don’t swarm. That’s because they have a very busy job and are on call.

• Scaffolding for success: Bees with better scaffolds will find better honey. We know that bees build excess comb in a space greater than 3/8 inch. They will also fill any space smaller than 1/4 inch with propolis (their antifungal structural material of the hive). So we keep their “bee spaces” between that 3/8 inch and 1/4 inch. In a company, your innovators need space to refine their role, but they also need clear responsibilities and goals, even if the goals are shifting.

• Embrace continuous learning: A bee’s strengths change over time. They excel at wax making until about eight weeks of age, then move on to new roles. Bees are adept at learning and can have multiple jobs throughout their lives, from nurse bees and guard bees to foragers. Each role is critical, and bees are promoted through these positions as they age. The lesson? Managers should consider these changing strengths when assigning roles and look for when employees are ready for a progression.

• Focus on creating lasting value: Just as focusing on honey can distract you from thinking long-term about the hive, an overemphasis on current products can prevent disruptive innovation. For example, solving internet loading problems in 1994 led to high-speed internet and the smartphone revolution. Similarly, if we had focused too much on the benefits of Wi-Fi alone (the current honeypot), we would have missed the need for seamless connectivity across Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite networks. This convergence led to the development of fiber optic technology, which is now the backbone of high-capacity communications networks. An entrepreneurial mindset is crucial here. We invent the future when we push the boundaries of the present and challenge the status quo. Each individual’s efforts should align with the organization’s broader goals and focus on creating lasting value.

• Always have a backup beekeeper: Consistency is key when checking in with your hive. I do it every few weeks. Always have a backup beekeeper (or head of department) to ensure constant management, as innovation requires a continuous and steady hand. While the queen rules, department heads, akin to senior worker bees, are essential for guidance. When launching a new innovation, these senior workers play critical roles at two stages. First, they test your idea, assessing its potential, economics, supply chain support, infrastructure needs, timing, operational impact and ability to change lives. Once the idea goes beyond this evaluation, these leaders are essential in assembling the team and driving the execution of the innovation.

• Foster a culture of excitement: When the bees bring the nectar back to the hive, they must sell it to the other bees. The attention their nectar receives depends on the enthusiasm with which they present it. Your team should feel safe to innovate, take bold action, and shout, “I’ve got an idea!” even if it turns out to be wrong. In an incubator environment, there should be no fear of “crying wolf” – only noisy bees focused on driving innovations that contribute to collective success. This means cultivating a culture where everyone is excited about their bold ideas and where smart risks and fast failure are part of a larger strategy to create long-term value and sustainability. This goes beyond the “fail early” mentality; sometimes a truly disruptive idea needs extra space to grow. The key is to create an atmosphere where the answer is “how could we do this better, if we were to do it again?” rather than causing embarrassment.

As with many things in life, focusing too much on the immediate goal (the honey) does not optimize long-term success. Instead, it is sound architecture and careful systems-level management that produce lasting results.

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