Co-thriving

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An example was recently given that within the diverse ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest there were certain hyperdominant tree species that were hugely successful. They made up nearly half of the rainforest after wading off competition. This example was given in the context of companies who build accumulative advantage over a period of time. By leveraging on these advantages, they win over competition and grow large and more powerful to eliminate competition.

However latest research on plant ecosystems reveal a fantastic level of co-thriving between them, rather than competition. A tree’s most important means of staying connected to other trees is a “wood wide web” of soil fungi that connects vegetation in an intimate network that allows the sharing of an enormous amount of information and resources. It appears that nutrient exchange and helping neighbors in times of need is the rule, even equalizing differences in available resources between them, and this leads to the conclusion that forests are superorganisms with interconnections much like ant colonies. They also warn each other using chemical signals sent through the fungal networks around their root tips, which operate no matter what the weather. 

A tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it. When trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can grow into the best tree it can be. Their well-being depends on their community, and when the supposedly feeble trees disappear, the others lose as well. When that happens, the forest is no longer a single closed unit. Hot sun and swirling winds can now penetrate to the forest floor and disrupt the moist, cool climate. Even strong trees get sick a lot over the course of their lives. When this happens, they depend on their weaker neighbors for support. If they are no longer there, then all it takes is what would once have been a harmless insect attack to seal the fate even of giants. 

An organism or organisation that is too greedy and takes too much without giving anything in return destroys what it needs for life.The average tree grows its branches out until it encounters the branch tips of a neighboring tree of the same height. It doesn't grow any wider because the air and better light in this space are already taken. However, it heavily reinforces the branches it has extended, so you get the impression that there's quite a shoving match going on up there. But a pair of true friends are careful right from the outset not to grow overly thick branches in each other's direction. The trees don't want to take anything away from each other, and so they develop sturdy branches only at the outer edges of their crowns. Such partners are often so tightly connected at the roots that sometimes they even die together.

The lesson learnt for businesses is not about just co-existing; it's about co-thriving. No company exists in a vacuum; each is part of an ecosystem. Large trees cannot sustain themselves without the support of an ecosystem of various sized life forms. In the same way, large companies cannot sustain themselves without an ecosystem of various sized companies. By reducing or destroying diversity, our world will be less able to adapt.

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