Technology

Nature can often rival the complexity of human achievements, and examples of elaborate systems can be found throughout the world.  For example, ant authority Bert Holldobler in his research discovered an intricate 50 square meter insect city built by the collective work of a multitude of ants rivaling the scope of the Great Wall of China (see the video.)  As the ants created this complex city, they moved more than 40 tons of soil with individual ants carrying loads of up to four times their body weight across a distance in human terms of a kilometer.  Holldobler used more than 10 tons of cement to fill in the subterranean ant colony and allow for a visualization of the complexity involved.  

As cloud, mobile, and social tools continue to dominate the HR discussion, and the workforce grows impatient for consumer-grade technology, HR must respond by understanding what is possible with these emerging technologies and fundamentally change the way their people work or risk missing out on yet another business movement, once again leaving an empty seat at the table.