Swarm Intelligence: A new way to think about business

Swarm Intelligence is the collective behaviour of self-organised natural or artificial systems. It was introduced by Geraro Beni and Jing Wang in 1989. The inspiration usually comes from nature. The agents just follow very simple rules, with no centralised structure. This act lead to the emergence of “intelligent” global behavior, which we is simply Swarm Intelligence.

 

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My Introduction to Swarm Intelligence

I got to know about Swarm Intelligence many years ago in a biology class. I am sure many others would have heard of this at school as well. To refresh your mind, you can have a look at a biology essay help service, there is a paper on there which describes how a group of scientists at Harvard University under the direction of Michael Rubinstein several years ago announced the creation of robots called Kilobot.

Swarm Intelligence is a whole new way to think about business. If done correctly, it can enhance the way your business is run.  By following the footsteps of social insects, we can see how they operate successfully as a result of these characteristics –

 

Flexibility

They can adapt to a changing environment. Being able to adapt to any environment helps. It means we can keep going even when outside our comfort zones.

 

Robustness

Even when one or more individuals fail, the group can still perform its tasks unsupervised. Being able to work unsupervised and without guidance is not for everyone but every freelancer, business person and self employed individual need this characteristic.

 

Self-organisation

The day to day activities are not controlled or supervised. It can go from 0 to 100 very quickly. Being able to organise systems to work effectively and stay organised is needed in the smooth running of a business.

 

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Swarm Intelligence and Freelancing

As a freelancer and a soloprenuer, I am a 1 woman team really. I do allocate some jobs out when I need to but I handle most of my business myself. Working from home with a family to cater for is not easy. I work round the clock everyday in order to get work done. The only way I get work done is by copying the Swarm Intelligence principles above.

I have to be able to be flexible and adjust to whatever life throws at me on a day to day basis. There is no manager or supervisor to tell me what to do, so I have to ensure I am on target and stick to deadlines. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid. It is as simple as that. I don’t have access to sick or holiday pay, so I have to ensure I work as many hours as I can to get my bills paid.

Have you ever heard of the term Swarm Intelligence? What are your thoughts on this?

 

*Collaborative post.

 

 

 

 

36 responses

  1. That’s amazing, had never heard of Swarm Intelligence, but yes that’s a great way to inherit the way insects socialize into our businesses. The best is the adaptability and acceptance basis the changes in the surroundings.

  2. Well, it seems I’m didn’t know about swarm intelligence until I saw your post. I believe that with swarm intelligence, it can be easy to easily organize and bring revolution to the business world! I think I like it.

  3. It does like swarm intelligence is a great tool for people who need assistance in managing their own business, at the moment I am not at the level where my work load requires external help but at some point hopefully I’ll be so busy, I’ll need one! 😉

    Karen Ngai

  4. This is the first time I’ve heard of swarm intelligence, but I can really relate to the concept. I work from home and am also a blogger. During the day, I have to be flexible, while at the same time staying on task with the things I want to accomplish. It’s not easy, but the good news is I get to practice every day. x

  5. I can relate to the concept. As you mentioned in the post, flexibility is an important factor in your path to success. Things are never going to be the same, your environment is never going to be the same. One should be flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions, be it business or be it life.

  6. I have heard of the term swarm intelligence before, but not sure where I did. It was in some science class I am sure. i really am curious how I would put this into practice around my blogging, but since I am the one doing all the work right now, I’m not sure that works out. Maybe it should encourage me to make partnerships. Who knows?

  7. I’ve never heard of swarm intelligence, but it does make a lot of sense. I can imagine running your own business can be difficult, so it is important to follow steps to be successful.

  8. Solopreneur here, too! Honestly, this is the first time I have heard of SWARM Intelligence. I wanna learn some more. Will do some digging.

  9. Swarm intelligence requires a “swarm” a solo blogger needs to collaborate and do so basically subconciously. I think I understand what you are getting at though Facebook and other social media might be better examples of swarm intelligence in the modern day.

    Examples from nature include ant colonies, bird flocking, fish schooling, and animal herding.

  10. Pingback: Swarm Intelligence: A new way to think about business | indevo's Weblog

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