Ant Army

Author: (American) Hos
Translator: Gulei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features:
Afterword: Jim Meier, a renowned management consultant, once said in Harvard Business Review that we can learn a lot about management from ants. When ants gather, they can self-organize without any supervision from a leader, forming a well-functioning team. More importantly, they can quickly adjust to changes in the environment and find solutions to problems. Ants always find the shortest path to carry food home. When they discover food, two ants leave the nest simultaneously, taking two different routes to the food source. The one that returns faster will release more pheromones as a marker. Therefore, when other ants smell a stronger scent, they naturally take the shorter route. This division of labor in ants relies on two simple principles: leaving pheromones and following trails. Applying these simple principles can solve complex problems. For example, a telephone network from Hawaii to Paris must pass through many nodes. A smart system must be able to automatically avoid traffic jams. HP Labs developed a method where a large number of software programs allow users to constantly move, leaving information in the network, similar to how ants leave pheromones. Telephones follow this information to connect. If a route is congested, the users on that route will also be congested, naturally sending a signal, and the route is abandoned. Telephones then take a smoother route, quickly alleviating the traffic jam.
Another division of labor model in ants is flexible division of labor. When an ant is carrying food and encounters another ant, it hands the food over and returns to pick up the next ant. When it encounters an upstream ant, it takes the food and passes it on. The position where the ants exchange hands is not fixed, except for the starting and ending points. Two scholars pointed out that this intelligence in ants has three advantages: (1) Flexibility, allowing rapid adjustment to environmental changes. (2) Resilience, even if an individual fails, the entire group can still function. (3) Self-organization, requiring minimal top-down control or management to complete tasks. These are exactly the qualities that businesses need in today's dynamic environment. Ants also possess the spirit of "sacrificing the small for the greater good," which enables them to overcome many harsh natural disasters.
British scientists placed a burning incense stick in an ant nest. At first, the ants in the nest were terrified. After about 20 seconds, many ants bravely rushed toward the fire, spraying formic acid. However, the amount of formic acid. Therefore, some "brave" ants perished in the fire. But they continued to fight, and within a minute, they finally extinguished the fire. The survivors immediately moved the bodies of their fallen comrades to a nearby "grave," covering them with a thin layer of soil as a sign of burial. A month later, the same animal. Although this "fire" was larger, the ants had gained experience and deployed their troops quickly, coordinating their efforts in an orderly manner. Within a minute, the candlelight was extinguished, and none of the ants were harmed. Scientists believe that ants have created a miracle of fire extinguishing.
The extraordinary performance of ants when facing imminent disaster is particularly astonishing. When wildfires erupt, many ants quickly gather, form a ball, and roll like a snowball, fleeing the fire. The crackling sound of burning is the cry of the outer ants using their bodies to clear a path to survival, a selfless and unwavering cry.
When floods rage, people on the embankments watch the fierce waves. Suddenly, someone exclaims, "Look, what is that?" A dark spot resembling a human head drifts along the waves. Everyone is about to move closer to rescue. "That's an ant ball," an old man says. "Ants are very spiritual. One year, during a flood, I also saw an ant ball as big as a basketball. When the flood came, the ants quickly formed a ball and drifted with the current. Some outer ants were swept into the water by the waves. But as long as the ant ball could reach the shore or touch a large floating object, the ants would be saved."
Soon, the ant ball reached the shore, and the ant colony, like soldiers on a landing craft, opened layer by layer, swiftly and orderly, marching in rows onto the embankment. A large ant ball remained in the water on the shore. Those were the heroic sacrificers inside the ball. They could no longer climb ashore, but their bodies remained tightly clasped together. So calm, so tragic.