????人類飼養蜜蜂，至今已有幾千年的歷史了——這時間長到足以令我們對這種生物產生敬佩之情。狗忠誠，貓好奇，而蜜蜂勤勞，正是如今商人的精神寫照。蜜蜂是偉大的組織者、風險規避者、分布式決策者。在我們所建立的快節奏、結構復雜的金融蜂巢里，什么樣的人既能徜徉其中，又能保持出色的學習能力？在寫給《哈佛商業評論》（Harvard Business Review）的一篇博文中，希伯森咨詢公司（Sibson Consulting）的人力資本副總裁邁克爾?奧馬利說道：

????“從專業角度講，我的工作是幫助大型企業管理風險，我主要研究他們的招聘、賠償、培訓和其他體系如何鼓勵人們的行為。我逐漸發現蜂巢是自然界頗為合理的組織。我養的蜂群有著適合長期持續增長的結構，而且能預防不可知環境變化所帶來的嚴重損失。”

????在蜜蜂掌控風險管理的例子中，奧馬利指出，當一個蜂巢大到不夠用時，整個蜂群會進行搬家，就像公司一樣。蜂巢通過不斷派出“田野探索隊”來“避免盛宴之后是饑荒的周期”。蜜蜂明智地使用它們的研發預算。在蜂巢要進行重大決策時，持不同觀點的蜜蜂通過復雜的舞蹈動作（這叫“搖擺舞”，真的）來“表決”。在奧馬利的這篇文章中，我最喜歡的一點是，蜂巢部署了“訓練有素的職業發展計劃”。這是千真萬確的！

????你現在大概知道我對蜜蜂確實略知一二，這主要是因為我那不太愛趕潮流的父親在幾年前開始養蜜蜂——遠在許多紐約人決定養蜂之前。我可不想把國家金融資本與蜜蜂數量上升扯上什么關系，我只想透露一下，倫敦的養蜂人更多。

????蜂巢也許是極其復雜的組織，但它也是一個家庭（實際上這一點可能使問題變得更為復雜）。一只蜜蜂在蜂巢中的角色隨年齡的變化而變化。這一切從育幼所開始，它由略長的雌蜂們喂養、照顧，然后扮演與她們相同的角色。當另一批蜜蜂誕生時，現在已年紀稍長的蜜蜂會去訓練它們。接下來，它的任務是貯存食物、清潔蜂巢，最后，它會飛到外面尋找花粉。當它太老了，無法應付蜂巢外的工作時，它會返回蜂巢，做更多的家務。令人驚奇的是，在這一過程的每一步驟，都是一只較大的蜜蜂照顧一只較小的蜜蜂，教會它整個鏈條中的某個環節。大型的天主教家庭在結構上也形同此理。

????然而，蜂巢組織與高效企業存在著關鍵區別（好吧，區別是有很多，但請先聽我說），原因有三：首先，每項工作都與蜜蜂的年齡綁定，其次，單個蜜蜂所承擔的那些任務在整個蜂巢被重復著成千上萬次，最后，每項工作都對蜂巢的持續生存至關重要，但這一切并不牢靠。毀掉一代蜜蜂，沒有哺育，沒有新一代工蜂，沒有清潔，蜂巢將被任何垂涎蜂蜜的動物侵入（主要是蠟螟和螞蟻）；沒有花蜜，沒有蜂蜜，蜂巢將陷入饑荒。是什么大規模地擾亂了這種一代接一代的工作循環？是我們人類。

????Humans have kept bees for thousands of years -- which is long enough to form some admiring opinions of them. Dogs are loyal; cats are curious; but the industrious bee might just be the spirit animal for the businessperson of today. Bees are great organizers, risk mitigators, and distributed decision-makers. What creature better to learn from while navigating the fast-paced, complexly structured hives of finance we have created? In a blogpost for the Harvard Business Review, Michael O'Malley, vice president of human capital at Sibson Consulting, says as much:

????Professionally, I help large businesses manage risk by focusing on how their recruiting, compensation, training, and other systems encourage people to behave. What I came to recognize was that beehives were organizations that naturally got things right. The honeybee colonies I was cultivating were structured for consistent long-term growth and the prevention of severe loss due to unpredictable environmental surprises.

????As examples of bees' mastery of risk management, O'Malley points to the fact that a hive swarms, literally spinning itself off like a company, when it grows too large for its current digs. Hives are also "designed to prevent cycles of feast and famine" by constantly keeping "an exploratory force in the field." Bees use their R&D budgets wisely. Big decisions in the hive are "voted on" by way of different bees arguing their points via complex dance moves (It's called a "waggle dance" -- I swear.) But my favorite point from his article is that a beehive has in place "a disciplined career development program." It's true!

????As you can probably tell by now, I know a thing or two about bees, mostly because my father, who is generally not on the leading edge of trends, began keeping bees several years ago -- well-before many New Yorkers decided that keeping bees was a thing they should do. I'm not going to draw a correlation between our nation's financial capital and the rise of its bee population, except to point out that there are even more beekeepers in London.

????A beehive may be a massively complex organization, but it's also a family (which might actually further complicate matters). As a bee ages, so does its role in the hive. It begins in the nursery, being fed and tended to by its only slightly older sisters before it graduates to their same role. By the time another set of bees has been born, that the now slightly older bee will train them. Eventually, it graduates to storing food, cleaning the hive, and, finally, flying outside in search for pollen. When it's too old to brave the outdoors, it returns to the hive for more housekeeping. The amazing thing is, every step of the way, an older bee is with a younger bee, teaching it the ropes, on down the line. Large Catholic families have some sense of how this structure works.

????There is, however, a key difference between the organization of a hive and an efficient business (well, OK, there are many, but stay with me for a moment): because each job is tied to the age of a bee, and because these tasks a single bee assumes are repeated, thousands of times over, throughout the hive, and because each job is absolutely vital for the hive's continued survival, well, you have yourself a house of cards. Wipe out one generation and no nursing, no new generation of workers; no cleaning, and the hive will be invaded by any number of creatures desiring the bee's honey (wax moths and ants, mostly); no nectar, no honey, and the hive starves. What disrupts this generational work cycle on a massive scale? We do.