Just yesterday, I saw a very long trail of ants —one behind the other, marching like a well trained army, transporting small pieces of grains to their anthill. Hundreds and hundreds of them, yet there was a rhythm in their approach and a discipline to their activity. I could not help but get amazed by their coordination. We talk about moving a mountain, and here I was literally seeing an army of ants doing just that right in front of me. Most importantly, I could not see a leader, nor any pre-defined set of rules, nor any punishment for not following them.

When was the last time we saw hundreds and hundreds of human beings work in such a coordinated yet peaceful manner? I fail to remember.

In present era, the biggest companies pay millions to hire leading consulting companies including McKinsey and BCG to advise on their organization structure. Yet here I was seeing ants moving mountains without any leader or organizational hierarchy.

This behavior of ants has intrigued many philosophers and researchers, and a silent monk today.

What we have been discussing is called as Swarm Theory, and explains the science behind how ants function. New Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence algorithms are being developed based around this theory and are termed as “Swarm Intelligence”.

As I continue to be intrigued by this behavior of ants, sharing below some simple characteristics of Swarm Theory which are equally applicable to human life:

I. Coordination can do wonders.

The ants demonstrate the best coordination one can find in this world. Every ant releases pheromones which act as a signal for the ants behind them. The following ants decide their course based upon these signals and carry out their activities. It is literally as simple as that.

II. We do not need a leader, when all of us have the same motive.

With all the talks these days about decentralized economy and decentralized organizations, here we see ants doing exactly the same since primitive ages. In Swarm theory, there is no leader! Every ant knows what it needs to do, and they carry out their activity purely based upon interaction with nearby ants.

The next time you see ants, just try to find out who their leader is.

III. You don’t need complex rules.

The rules that the ants follow are pretty simple. Just interact with all the other ants nearby. Take feedback and pass it onto others.

There is no top driven announcement that determines what the ants do, yet the ants know it all so clearly because of their interactions at the working level.

IV. Simplicity is highly scalable, and the ants are demonstrating that.

Whether you have a hundred agents or a million agents, the way ants move a mountain — it works exactly the same way.

Why human beings will fail at this way of working?

A. We are taught to be leaders and not to be part of a decentralized system.

Remember the last time you were participating in any outdoor school activity — whether it was cleaning a park, or setting up a camp — it always started with selecting a camp leader who would definitely put it on his college application. We as students are always taught to be a leader, and hence an ant, who works quitely, would miserably fail in our education system.

II. Our ego stops us from taking instructions or feedbacks from our peers.

As human beings, we do not want to take instructions from anyone who is at the same level. Our ego is way too big for that. And this personality trait single handedly defines why we need an organisation struture.

Our algorithms can mimic ants and work efficiently, but not us human beings.

Surprising to note that such a small animal as ants, have much higher understanding of organizations and effective coordination. Wondering why we are so proud of being human beings 😃?

Recap to remember:
 — The ants demonstrate very effective coordination through feedback from nearby ants.
 — They do not have a leader or any organization structure, and yet work so efficiently.
 — We human beings are always taught to work in an organizational structure rather than a decentralized environment.
 — Ants behavior is leading to a new class of algorithms in Artificial Intelligence termed as “Swarm Intelligence”.

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