Interconnectedness, a thriving & diverse relationship

My recent upskilling into honey tasting has really opened my eyes into how bees, hives and human ecosystems are so similar.

Interconnectedness refers to the state of having different parts or things connected or related to each other and can be applied to various contexts, such as people, events, systems, or networks and ensures resilience and sustainability — whether in biodiversity ecosystems or business networks.

Ecosystems thrive with diverse creatures—bees, hummingbirds, bats, wasps, and butterflies—each playing a vital role. Human networks are only sustainable with equally diverse managers, champions, leaders, employees, and consultants—all contributing to business success.

The creatures share resources with scent, sound, and nectar—to sustain ecosystems. We collaborate, innovate, and share knowledge to drive productivity.

The insects transfer nectar to flowers, ensuring their survival. Neither insects nor flowers exist in isolation; their fates are intertwined. Leaders articulate vision, values, and processes and just as pollination relies on interconnectedness, strategy and culture are inseparable. If one fails, disaster looms.

Biological fusion—from eggs to zygotes—nurtures growth. Our interactions—processes, systems, tasks—are similar to the life cycle of a flower.

Ultra-Violet light guides poor-sighted creatures to find flowers swiftly. For busy humans, notifications and alerts enable timely interactions that might be hidden forever.

And, bees are the most remarkable creatures that work together in harmony to sustain their hive. Each bee has a specific role—collecting nectar, guarding the hive, or nurturing the young. They coordinate their actions and cooperate seamlessly. Similarly, humans in the community must recognise their purpose and collaborate effectively and when everyone contributes their skills and ideas, help the community to thrive.

A healthy happy hive buzzes with energy and purpose and bees communicate through dance, ensuring alignment and coordination. They also express emotions, such as joy, anger, or fear, through sound and movement. Good morale is also essential for a thriving human community with positive reactions, clear communication, and shared goals that nurture a vibrant and organised community where staff feel valued, respected, and motivated to do their best work.

Bees use resources in fascinating ways where they collect nectar from flowers, build honeycombs from wax, and store surplus honey for future use. They also recycle and reuse materials, such as propolis and pollen and are masters of efficiency and productivity. We, should be working out loud and sharing our work with a view others might find it helpful and others might help you improve your work.

A thriving hive produces surplus honey, which is the result of the bees’ hard work and cooperation. Bees share their honey with other bees, ensuring survival during lean times. We must be mindful of sustainability and balance our needs and resources, without impacting the future and that includes curating and harvesting knowledge management, and empathy for our colleagues, friends and family.

I have always loved honey and recently qualified as a Honey Sensorialist Taster in essence like a wine taster – only far healthier and good for the planet! To find out more please fly by my Honey Appreciation Facebook Group where I share honey and honeybee insights. I host unique biodiversity yet fun Honey food-pairing workshops. Suitable for Hens, Afternoon Tea, Teens, and Wellness.

Also, blended with Corporate digital wellbeing workshops that focus on working out loud in an interconnected Microsoft ecosystem, and a growth mindset to help employees think and behave like a hived network.

See: How to start a conversation about the Employee Experience and Viva Wayfinder – New Hire Solution

In summary, I consider myself the commsiest person in tech and the techiest person in comms and nurtured many global Champion networks, most recently MVP Viva Explorers – bizzy bright interconnected #MVPbuzz and Microsoftie bees.

My Twitter handle, or rather X handle, has been Lesley_WOLAN since 2009. WOLAN stands for Working Out Loud in a Network. For 15 years, I’ve been fascinated by tech ecosystems that started with Facebook, social media, then Yammer, Teams and the abundancy of employee experience products and features in Viva. I now find myself at a point in my life with a passion to share Mother Nature’s precious ecosystems and help make connection to complex hybrid work systems in a fun way and taste lots of lovely Honey!

Interconnectedness is at the heart of the thriving and diverse MVP Community just like bees.