The humble amoeba!It seems strange to think of one of natures most simplistic animals as metaphor for an organizational model for the future but the amoeba is a good choice, as it has survived almost as long as life has been on the planet.
It is able to sense environmental threats through its semi permeable membrane and move away from threats – it is also able to equally sense the opportunity to move to a better environment or to seek out food which it simply engulfs. The intelligence of the organism is centred in its nucleus and a deeper look indicates it is not as simple as it first looks.
It is adaptable
Flexible.
Able to divide itself whenever it feels appropriate it is an excellent metaphor of a flexible future orientated organization.
Humans are made up of a diverse set of organs and system that have all evolved from simple cells which, at their first origins, had the potential to develop into whatever is required. As such humans are a complex set of interrelated and interconnected organs and 'parts' made up of a variety of cells – all of which work to keep us self-regulated, alive and well.
Given the right conditions we are as flexible as the simple amoeba and equally programmed for survival. We have the added advantage that we are able to think and learn from our experiences – but, equally, we can be limited by poor environments and, in the worse cases, we can give up the desire to thrive and learn altogether.
Better to be seen as an amoeba – able to adapt and change, than a 'cog' in a man made 'machine' destructive to the drive to grow. This is the metaphor that has been the basis of the Industrial Era.
If we want to thrive, in what is being called the 'Age of Creativity', we need to see our organisations as living complex organisms able to create all sorts of wonderous things as we work in concert with each other.
That’s more impressive than the simple amoeba.
Schools as living communities – now that is a powerful metaphor.
5 comments:
Be great if schools were as transparent and adaptable as an amoeba!
An amoeba - a simple but powerful metaphor for the 21stC.
The ability to be sensitive to ones environment, and to quickly adapt as required, is impossibe in traditional 'egg-crate' secondary schools with their subject 'boxes' and timetables.
Go amoeba!!!!
Schools are more like prisons than living things - you either shape up or pay the price. They survive because most peoples default mode is conformity and repression of those that rock the boat. Adaptable they aren't.
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