By Lance Winslow
One thing I've learned in a think tank is to never limit the subject matter when doing brainstorming, or warming up to work on a very important problem which requires a serious solution. Innovation and entrepreneurship, invention and solutions require the processing of lots of different pieces of data and thinking outside the box. Not long ago I was talking to an acquaintance of mine, and I said why don't you pick this subject, and we will talk about that.
You see, if your mind is working properly, you should be able to take on any subject and come up with new ideas, and new thoughts, or tap into your base knowledge for somewhere to begin - even original ideas on the spur of the moment to attach to the topic. So, my acquaintance stated when I asked him to come up with something; "Butterflies first comes to mind...always passively thinking about butterflies," and I said ah, great topic;
Symmetrical Patterns on Wings, Unpredictable flight patterns to avoid prey, butterfly effect, pollination potential for increased crop yields, efficient use of energy even though they don't fly straight, and a problem for traveling motorists during migration periods. Okay so, let's discuss this.
In fact, on the fly, I didn't even waste 5 seconds that replying, and within 15 seconds we had a list of topics to discuss. Now then let's talk about this, and start at the top. This symmetrical wing patterns on butterflies are very mathematically interesting - I recommend reading Stephen Wolfram's book "A New Type of Science," for more information on this, in fact, it is an interesting algorithm to consider, and the designs are quite unique, and evolutionarily savvy. For instance some butterfly wings have large black dots on the ends of them.
A predator might think they are bigger than they are and mistake those black dots for eyes, it might even try to bite off the head, when it is really biting off the tip of the wing. This allows the butterfly to survive another day. Thus, "survival of the fittest" evolution is definitely at play. The colors also probably have something to do with their ability to mate, or attract a mate. Because the butterfly wings are waxy, they probably are not very good to eat.
Therefore, if the predator eats the butterfly, and quickly learns that they don't taste good, then therefore they are liable to leave the rest of the butterflies alone, allowing them to continue to procreate. That's really good for crop yields, because butterflies help pollinate crops, and it also helps flowers. The more pollination, the more flowers, and the happier the butterflies are, it's a win-win situation the food chain. Nice niche indeed.
The butterfly has unpredictable flight patterns, also making it very hard to catch. In fact, try catching a butterfly without using a butterfly net, it's almost impossible, well it's not impossible, but you really have to concentrate. The butterfly also has a unique design because the body is on the bottom of the wings, unlike an airplane with the body of the fuselage generally on top of the wings. Many insects use a similar strategy. Should we rethink some of the more conventional looking aircraft designs?
We all know what the butterfly effect is, where a butterfly might flap its wings in the Brazilian Amazon jungle might set off a chain of events, eventually leading to a hurricane. That is an interesting theory, but it is amazing how little things can make a big difference over time. Anyway, you are beginning to get the picture of why it makes sense to come up with new topics, and never limit the conversation when brainstorming, warming up for a think tank topic, or using information from other places to help you in different industry subsectors.
The designing of a new airplane, or strategy may employ some of the same techniques that butterflies have learned to use through the evolutionary process. I hope you understand this point, and I hope you liked my example here today, because this is something that you need to know if you want to be one with innovation, and come up with problem solving solutions. Please consider all this.
