I am a huge fan of synergy, which is the combined interaction of two agents (people) resulting in a larger result than their individual efforts could acheive. It's helpful to realize that each one of us is better together. Like the Ecclesiastes writer says..."two are better than one, a cord of three strands is not easily broken."
But today I'm interested in a new term: stigmergy. (WARNING: This is going to get a little heady...but stay with me and you'll see why I'm curious about this word, which is harder to say than synergy).
Stigmergy was first observed within the world of insects by the Italian biologist, Grasse, in 1959. He noted an interesting phenomena in termites. When they were by themselves, or very small in numbers, they would meander around aimlessly. But when their numbers increased, they would suddenly spring into action. Termites would begin to build and stack things based on the behavior of other termites, who had stacked things and simply left phermones in certain places. The communication between members of the termite colony was done by their modification to the environment. Grasse called this activity stigmergy.
An overly simplistic definition would be: the influence on behavior by the persisting environmental effects of previous behavior.
Now I can hear some of you saying, "Great Tim, what does this lesson in termite life have to do with student leadership...are we going to eat through the wall?"
While most scientists have been hesitant to bring the concept of stigmergy into play in the realm of humans (we are more open to making choices irrespective of environmental influences), I think that there are some stigmergic forces at work here.
Student leaders step into a world that has been shaped by previous student leaders. For better or worse, you get to start your work from the legacy of those who have come before you. You can choose to continue in the same direction or move in other directions, but past work plays a role in what you are able to accomplish today.
That past work has some level of influence. It has established traditions, systems, and expectations. What others have left behind, you come alongside and pick up and carry for awhile. You may add some things to it, take some things away, or alter it in some way. Every student leader starts out on the shoulders of the student leader that went before him or her. What they did will have some form of influence on what you do.
The process of stigmergy says that you have a choice to either...
Option A: Move through life in such a way that you leave no effect, that you're virtually invisible.
Option B: Act on your environment - by adding something, taking something away, or altering something.
It is in the realm of Option B that student leaders live. Those who choose Option A are merely spectators and have no impact (or influence) on those who will come after them (although they are taking up oxygen). Student leaders have begun to think stigmergistically (is that a word?!?). They understand that the work that they accomplish, even in a year's time, will have a certain type of influence on those who come after them.
It is also important to note that the level of stigmergy increases as the number of agents (people) get involved, actively engaging and responding to the environmental cues that were left from those who came before them. A great example of this is the internet. People are influenced by what they find there and continually add to it. As this occurs, the internet grows exponentially, building upon itself.
This has implications for student leaders, especially those who work within their schools and universities. You cannot work synergistically with those who will come behind you and be there once you are gone, but perhaps you can work stigmergistically (there's that word again) by the way that you influence your environment...by the way that you leave your mark on the campus.
Which leaves us with some stigmergent questions:
- What does the work you are doing inspire in others?
- Can you feel the effects of those who have come before you? What have you discovered about the past as you've tried to implement tasks and responsibilities in the present?
- What kind of legacy will the work you are doing leave for those who come after you?
- Does our work shape the environment in such a way that people can discover the space to continue and respond to it? ...add to it?
- What kinds of consequences will the work you do today have on those who come after you? Will it help them or hinder them?
Do you want to know more about stigmergy?
• Wikipedia entry on stigmergy
• An introduction to stigmergy by Holland and Melhuish
• Multicellular Computing: The Principle of stigmergy
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