Let's look up to the trees

Enjoying these beautiful autumn trees in the park this week reminded me of a piece of research carried out by ecologist Suzanne Simard.

While it was previously believed that all trees were in a state of lone-wolf behaviour, and acting in competition against their fellow tree neighbours, Suzanne was able to show that is not actually the case. Trees are massive collaborators.

She found that networks of hundreds of trees support each other through underground fungal networks. They exchange information, they share resources, they warn each other of danger, and they even pass down wisdom from older trees to younger seedlings. Through this ‘they increase the resilience of the whole community,’ explains Suzanne in her TED Talk, and they can thrive in the harshest environments and times of threat.

From this, we can take such inspiration. Just like in the forests, jungles and woods; remarkable results are achieved through collaboration in our own environments too; our schools, our workplaces, our neighbourhoods and communities.

As Nancy Kline highlights in ‘Time to Think’, one of the key ingredients for a productive thinking environment is for encouragement and collaboration between peers, over competition. ‘Competition stifles encouragement and limits thinking’.* Having the free, generous and encouraging flow of ideas back and forth between people, leads to greater, more creative and innovative outcomes.

The power of a collaborative approach can also be seen on an institutional level. Some remarkable results of this are outlined in ‘Mindset’ by Dr Carol S. Dweck as she explains how ‘some schools have created a dramatic reduction in bullying by fighting the atmosphere of judgement and creating one of collaboration…’. In the business context, she shows where companies are committed to a culture of collaboration, learning and growth, they are therefore as businesses more agile, innovative and resilient.**

It's got me thinking, how can we ‘be more tree’? How can we bring this value of collaboration into our everyday relationships, conversations and working habits? And what other lessons could we be learning from observing the natural world?

* Time to Think, Nancy Kline, p71 ** Mindset, Dr Carol S. Dweck p, 144 & 172