Biomimicry Puts Mother Nature to Work

When problems arise in business, company leaders don't usually turn to mother nature for answers and inspiration. But the Biomimicry Guild proposes that nature holds the key to the most powerful and effective solutions when it comes to not only ensuring success in business, but on a much larger scale, the survival of the planet.

"Biomimicry is an innovation method that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies, ie: a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies -- new ways of living --that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul." The Guild's impressive and extensive client list includes companies like NASA, Nike, Seventh Generation, and Patagonia, who, not surprisingly, have all looked to the birds and the bees to build their businesses.

One can't deny mother nature's role as muse when it comes to ingenious design and innovation. Note Leonardo Da Vinci's infamous examination of a bird's wings with regard to inventing a flying machine, or George de Mestral's invention of Velcro after the Swiss engineer had to remove burrs stuck to his dog's hair and his clothes following a hunting expedition. And recently, the buzzworthy xBee prototype, a windmill which mimics the flight of bumblebees, hummingbirds and dragonflies to produce 1-10 kW of wind power suitable for homes and small businesses.

It makes perfect sense that patterns and concepts of nature should be applied to growing and sustaining businesses. 'Survival of the fittest' is a common phrase in the dog eat dog corporate world and the Biomimicry Guild concurs offering, "in nature, if a design strategy is not effective, its carrier dies."

The Guild even boasts a program dubbed Biologists At The Design Table, which trains biologists in biomimicry design methodology so they may in turn help business people, designers, architects and engineers tap into the natural world to develop cost-saving, life-friendly business practices.

For more on the vital role nature plays in influencing design and business, watch Co-Founder of The Biomimicry Guild Janine Benyus's talk on TED.