“Ants?!! You can’t be serious.” I thought I might get this reaction, but I was dead wrong.
When I thought about how to define and centralize the heroes of industry, I struggled with finding a metaphorical example that would illustrate the diligence necessary to generate great product, ideas and innovation. But when listening to American Copywriter #37, and their description on the intense work ethos of CP+B, all I could think of were Ants. But not Ants as the scurrying insect, but as an example of the tireless work necessary to get to great. So I did some research and a few things struck me right off in the dialogue of Ant life @ Wikipedia…
“Ants are one of the most successful groups of insects in the animal kingdom. They are of particular interest because they are a social insect and form highly organized colonies or nests which sometimes consist of millions of individuals.”
And
“Ant colonies are sometimes described as superorganism because they appear to operate as a single entity.”
Immediately I started thinking about the great agencies, companies and leaders in the industry and the language started to appear.
Colonies: Corporations, organizations, agencies and communities.
Ants: Employees, leaders and/or members of Colonies
Weaver Ants: “Social insects belonging to the ant family, known for their communication and nest building behavior. They have complex bio-chemical communication and make elaborate nests out of living tree-leaves. Weaver ants form the most elaborate communicative organization in the insect world.”
Think Chuck Porter (CB+P), Jonathan Nelson (Organic), Dan Wieden/David Kennedy (W+K), Geoffrey Canada (Harlem Children’s Zone), Richard Saul Wurman/Chris Anderson (TED), Ed Catmull/Alvy Ray Smith/Steve Jobs (Pixar), Phil Knight
Soldier Ants: Fearless defenders of colonies and ideas. I like to think of them as the creators of the pathways for great work throughout the industry.
Think Tom Peters, Tom Kelley, Seth Godin, Steve Jobs, Scott Bedbury, etc.
Silver Ants: One of the only Ants known to navigate with their eyes. I immediately started to think of planners, researchers and cultural anthropologists. They don’t follow the laid path that most Ants follow to get where they need to be. Their eyes are their guide and to that end, with their heads up, likely see a number of things we don’t in our daily efforts.
Garr Reynolds, Russell Davies, 3 Minds, Malcolm Gladwell, Guy Kawasaki, Clement Mok and Piers Fawkes are a few of my favorites.
