What a modern business can learn from a flock of starlings.

One of the most remarkable phenomena in nature - one of my favorites anyway - is the murmuration of starlings. And it’s a powerful visual metaphor for how a modern and dynamic business should aspire to move.

The flock movements are called murmurations, often in groups of tens of thousands of starlings, moving with mesmerizing precision, agility and cohesion.

It’s the visual definition of what we refer to as “coordinated agility.”

The ability of an organization or team to adapt, respond and move quickly and efficiently in a synchronized manner while maintaining alignment with their goals, objectives and strategies.

How do they do this?

Scientists have studied these flock movements and, through computer modeling and video analysis, they’ve determined that each starling seems to be able to see to the outer edges of the flock in all directions. But each starling also seems to be acutely aware of the movements of a small cohort, around 7-8 of its immediate neighbors. So, it’s this combined vision of the whole and awareness of a small subset that enables this type of coordinated agility.

So, what can we learn from starlings? If you want your organization to move with pace and precision, ask the following questions:

Do we have shared clarity on the things that matter most - can everyone see to the outer edge of the flock - do we have a common understanding of where we’re all trying to move?

Do we have a way to coordinate our various teams so we’re not colliding, but flowing as one cohesive organism?