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.

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.

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.