Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات · 3 دقائق وقت القراءة · ~10 ·

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Living on the Edge of Challenge

Living on the Edge of Challenge

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It amazes me, and may be you too the reader of this buzz, that we tend to go the extremes and swing from one extreme to the other. Is this the call of nature? We find many trees living in arid zones, or water logging areas, but very few trees living in areas where land and water are close by. Trees living in water flooding areas adapt well to the flood of water. In contrast, trees living in arid zones adapt well to the scarcity of water. In areas where land and water are neighboring to each other and adaptations to living in the border areas are challenging, far less number of trees exists. Is it easier for businesses to adapt to extreme conditions than it is for varying conditions of flooding business and for businesses thirsty for the waters of survival than adapting to both scarcity of water and being flooded with customers, demands and showering orders?

Trees living in one extreme condition of drought or flooding waters have developed strategies which are variant from those strategies developed by trees living in areas where in one side there is plenty of water and on the other side there is arid land. Understanding how trees adapt may suggest a huge number of different strategies for businesses to consider.

Strategies for Scarcity

Trees combine different strategies to combat the extreme condition of water scarcity. These include:

· Dispensing off leaves or having small leaves to minimize water loss. Avoidance of loss is the core point. Businesses may also consider avoidance of losses when exposed to sunny days- loss of cash flows, customers and talents are among the main losses businesses should thrive to minimize.

· Trees try to keep water in reservoirs of their own. Tree store water in specialized tissues such as in leaves and trunks. So, the strategy is minimize water losses and maximizes water storage. In arid businesses climates each business should consider what makes its "waters" and maximize their storage and minimize their losses. It is balancing the opposites of losing water and storing it that tree excel at.

Trees in arid zones develop long roots to reach the maximum amounts of available water resources. Desert trees remain dormant during scarcity of water and germinate only when trees sense water availability. So, the combined strategy is reduce water losses + store as much water as possible for difficult times + reach the scarce water to the maximum degree possible + reduce germination till trees sense water availability. How about businesses in drought environments? Shouldn't they consider the same strategies?

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These are scare example of strategies adopted by trees in arid zones. How about growth and adaptation in rain logged environments?

Strategies for Over-Supplies

Trees living in excessive water availability have other problems to cope with. Trees accept what they sense and adapt to it. Trees know that controlling the environment is beyond their capacity.

Honestly, I could write more than twenty buzzes on how trees adapt and strategize with water flooding environments. For brevity, trees may do the following:

· The flooding of roots deprives them from oxygen as oxygen diffuses less in water and microorganisms competing for the scarce oxygen. This is a prime concern for trees. Flooding stress has resulted in a wide range of biochemical, molecular and morphological adaptations that sanction growth and reproductive success under episodic or permanently flooded conditions that are highly damaging to the majority of plant species. Tolerance adaptations and/or avoidance adaptations have been the two main strategies to adapt to flooding.

· Some plants do their photosynthesis under water to produce their own oxygen.

· The primary morphological plant strategy in response to flooding is the development of air spaces in the roots and stems which allow diffusion of oxygen from the aerial portions of the plant into the roots. These plants find an alternative route for the supply of oxygen.

· There are so many other strategies and I may dedicate a buzz to focus on them.

How about trees that live on borderline between land and water? Surprisingly, very few plants can do that. The challenges to adapt are huge.

Trees Living on the Borderline, or Edge of Challenge

Trees living on the borderline have to adapt to salty water and wave action. To cope with these stringent challenges, trees have evolved different strategies:

· Trees living in borderline areas have complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion. They either have the capacity to store salts or throw them out using innovative technologies.

· Trees limit loss of scarce fresh water in salty mud trees change the direction of their leaves to avoid exposure to sun. Trees use avoidance strategy.

· A creative strategy trees in borderline areas adapted is to germinate their seeds while still on the trees.

· Trees such as mangroves have developed very long pods for their seeds.

There is a great video on mangrove trees and their adaptations. This video is a must see.


Sara Jacobovici has written a great buzz on "Sorry, you can’t blame it on politics or politicians". She wrote in this buzz "We are a part of this dynamic existence we call life, not passive receivers or observers. It is within the tension of what is and isn’t in our control, fighting for our individuality while living in a community and the choices we make, that moves us on our chosen paths". Trees teach us how exactly to do that.

We live on the edge of challenges and trees have so much to teach us on how to grow and adapt in these challenging environments.





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التعليقات

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #31

#41
You never make useless comments and even if we differ sometimes you always prove you have a solid point. Thank you David Navarro L\u00f3pez for the comment and the link to your buzz. I repeat the link here as this buzz is so rewarding to read: https://www.bebee.com/producer/@david-navarro-lopez/businesses-living-in-the-edge-of-challenge

David Navarro López

منذ 7 سنوات #30

#40
You read my mind, dear Ali. Will do. Just read it, and "ruminating" about it. As you well know, I dislike to make useless comments........

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #29

#39
Dear David Navarro L\u00f3pez- I will do now I wish also your time would allow you to read my last buzz as it is inviting for many great discussions. I need your view on there. https://www.bebee.com/producer/@ali-anani/the-positive-side-of-negative-emotions

David Navarro López

منذ 7 سنوات #28

Dear Ali, your provoking posts always awaken my will on commenting. Please have a look here https://www.bebee.com/producer/@david-navarro-lopez/businesses-living-in-the-edge-of-challenge as comment space was too small to answer to your post.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #27

#37
mohammed khalaf- what a wise comment! I enjoyed it tremendously. Yes, we need watering distinctions. Your metaphor is brilliant.

mohammed khalaf

منذ 7 سنوات #26

ok Dr Ali People who believe in the power of dialogue usually abhor either/or distinctions. Few things in life are same of the trees if cut the water from it will died , cut and then dry, and when it comes to mitigating differences between people we need watering these distinctions .

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #25

#35
You honor me Joris Plaatstaal. Thank you

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #24

#32
I love drinking from your "wisdom well" CityVP Manjit. The more I drink, I more thirsty I become for more.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #23

Thank you for the lovely link @Joris Plaatstaal. It is a lovely video. I haven't seen before, but this wisdom-packed video I have seen and surely it is worth viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFDmrLGgYM

CityVP Manjit

منذ 7 سنوات #22

#26
Yes! Dear Ali Anani for what is transformation other than the love of learning and to know fully what it is we then have learned, and this knowing becoming the core contribution to our collective act of living.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #21

#29
Thanks Federico \u00c1lvarez San Mart\u00edn

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #20

#27
Franci Eugenia Hoffman- loved the way you associated the roots of trees to huan roots which enable humans to connect and communicate. Lovely thoughts

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #19

#25
I am here mostly for what you wrote towards the end "I need to learn. I will learn". Conformity is not learning @Joris Plaatstaal

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #18

#23
No question I am going to spend this evening pondering on this idea "Our barter system of time/intelligence for money should act like the grove of trees. Learn, stabilize and grow.......But for some reason the need for volatility is strong in the human psyche". This is sheer brilliance Harvey Lloyd. I shall be back with more elaboration of my understanding of this great and provoking idea.

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #17

#20
The hurricane within the metaphor is our current political climate to humans or the opportunity for the sapling to grow is when the grove becomes damaged and the canopy opens. Our economic system benifits from volatility, it shakes the leaves of money lose from one group and allows another to flourish. The system can be played, but to what end? Our barter system of time/intelligence for money should act like the grove of trees. Learn, stabilize and grow.......But for some reason the need for volatility is strong in the human psyche. We have to shake things up. We call this our best system to satisfy the masses the best way possible. Trees show us a different path. But the path is not special, exciting or glorifying. Humans have to make that part work.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #16

#19
You are a gift dear . I appreciate your comment. Believe me, I find the exchange of comments with commentators a rich source of knowledge. I am deeply grateful to you and every commentator. Have a great day my friend.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #15

#18
I just wonder why you don't write more buzzes dear Harvey Lloyd with such deep thinking that you have. Living humans and living trees have so much in common and also their differences as you pointed out in your comment. I want to elaborate more, but would love first to read your explanation of your writing "A hurricane within the grove represents volatility". I don't want to make guesses, but feel you have a deep meaning in saying this.

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

منذ 7 سنوات #14

Amazing Ali Anani Every post you're propagating is packed with philosophies and all commentators resemble your pupils, as if conversing with your pensive reflections and submitting their dissertations. :)

Harvey Lloyd

منذ 7 سنوات #13

Ali Anani I believe your concepts apply within business communities as well as nature. The parallels are uncanny as you describe. With further comparison there are some unrelated differences between man and trees. A grove of trees share seeds, pollination and evolving over millennia. The grove is strong and resilient. In the wake of old growth new saplings appear and the perspective is different. (Metaphorically speaking) A hurricane within the grove represents volatility, from this, new and different things come. Mainly, in this metaphor, there is a transfer of wealth. The sapling now has the opportunity to grow from the grove's best and brightest. Humans grow from volatility. We learn a lot about ourselves when we are cornered and vulnerable. This helps us realign our perspectives. The biggest difference between the grove and the human....The grove learns and acts over time to a very clear set of natural laws. Humans on the other hand want to keep things the same from their different perspectives. The younger human wants room to grow, the older human wants to be stable in its aging roots and size. Volatility.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #12

#15
Mohammed Sultan- this is my gem of the day your writing " just a group of people working together to a group of people thinking together,mixing their soils ,mating their ideas, and those who can use one another's resources in the right way and for the right purpose". I am on the same wavelength and no question asked.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #11

#15
Mohammed Sultan- tis is my gem of the day your writing " just a group of people working together to a group of people thinking together,mixing their soils ,mating their ideas, and those who can use one another's resources in the right way and for the right purpose". I am on the same wavelength and no question asked.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #10

#11
The first step is asking the right questions and so my sister Irene Hackett you are on the right path. I am sure you shall illuminate us with your findings and answers to these very relevant questions.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #9

#10
@Joris Plaatstaal- yes, we humans have choices, but do we select carefully? Having choices is one thing; selecting the right ones is another. I love the experiments you are doing and may be you shall be able to elaborate more on it. My answer is definitely yes to your question "I think you are saying that life will prevail. I agree. Life is wonderful. Life is inevitable".

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #8

#9
Mohammed Sultan- imagine a soccer match in which each player tries to score himself and deny passing to other well-positioned teammates. What would happen? When self-interest precedes team interest and individualism prevails we ose. It is he same with any other "game" in life.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #7

#7
I- interesting is your linking this buzz with the US elections and the swing in predictions. Yes, this is a powerful example and you remind me of Julius Cesar who became powerless in no time. History repeats itself. I also very much like your other point "there's always activity inside trees during the barren winter months when they shed leaves and might appear dead". ACting deas to survive is a strategy that trees do. I thank you for sharing this buzz my friend

David B. Grinberg

منذ 7 سنوات #6

Thanks for another interesting and enlightening buzz, Ali. I hope you are doing well. The headline and opening sentence of this blog post could certainly applied to the US presidential election, as the political pendulum radically swung from one extreme to the opposite extreme. Sara Jacobovici provides some good insights on this. One of the things I like most about trees is they stand tall and even bend in fierce winds but don't break (Palm Trees). Also, there's always activity inside trees during the barren winter months when they shed leaves and might appear dead. Yet on the inside, the trees are getting ready for the next season. Thanks again for another excellent read, Ali.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #5

#4
Superb comment by the beautiful mind Sara Jacobovici suggested gradual adaptation. Combining the two ideas then we have many possibilities or varieties of adaptations. I am mesmerized by your writing, Sara, "This, like any other human trait, can work to our advantage through innovation and development, or against us, that we detach from the norm and fail to thrive"This is a great example of choices and what choice humans make- a topic that you covered extensively. More than that, is the embedded paradox that we have two opposite choices and fail to see of what benefits us more between the two. Even when we have two choices only we fail miserably sometimes to take the right one. Your exammle of the tomato is spot on of what I mean. .

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #4

#3
Very comprehensive your comment is dear debasish majumder. I love it all and find it worthy of responding to in a dedicated buzz I liked this "due course it may gradually learn to adapt. however, we cannot rule out, sometimes policy paralysis occur owing to such abrupt natural invasion and unlike plants, human, though having capacity to innovate, may ceases to act, resulting them to face ruinous impact". I like your concept of "gradual adaptation" and this is a worthy topic on its own and how gradual adaptation-growth unfold in the spacetime. Surely, lots to ponder on.

Sara Jacobovici

منذ 7 سنوات #3

Another great buzz Ali Anani. I feel like if one was to take your buzzes on trees, a manual for business planning, strategy, development and growth can be published. What differentiates us from the trees, however, is that trees are satisfied with what they have to work with; their environment, sensing, predicting and adapting to what is. We humans are never satisfied. This, like any other human trait, can work to our advantage through innovation and development, or against us, that we detach from the norm and fail to thrive. A positive example of an innovation can be hydroponics; a wonderful alternative for growing plants and food without soil. A less positive example is how areas that don't grow certain fruits and vegetables have the fruits and vegetables flown in, because it makes business sense re supply and demand. The consumer, however, is buying the illusion of having tomatoes in the winter months because as the tomatoes are placed in boxes to be shipped before they are ripe, they ripen in transit and by the time they arrive at their destination, it may look like a tomato, but in no way tastes like one. We live on many different edges. One is the edge of satisfaction; can we be satisfied with what we have and if we are motivated to go beyond our environmental resources, can we do that while sustaining a connection with the relationship we have with that environment? Thank you as always Dr. Ali for provoking and inspiring questions and discussion.

Ali Anani

منذ 7 سنوات #2

#1
This comment of yours CityVP Manjit moved me because it relates this buzz with my previous buzz on "Trees Development as Metaphors for Business Development". In particular I mean the segment of your comment in which you stated "There is plenty of water for employees where the job of sales is delegated to a particular group and the arid strategies of entrepreneurs can see them innovate and adapt to harsh environments but essentially engage a labour of love that accompanies much higher reward/payback". Sales as part of development, but always must incorporate the balance that we "that made the home reality valuable - but a famine cannot be allowed to ruin things - for all things including family and work are a part of a life giving network". I couldn't agree more with this great elaboration.

CityVP Manjit

منذ 7 سنوات #1

I recognize this allegory in the part of consulting work that I never liked back in the day when we incorporated a consulting practice. This part is what I call "FEAST & FAMINE". How feast and famine happens is that consulting contracts take large time blocks and produce strong revenue streams. When they end, whether it is 1 month, 3 months, 6 months etc the consulting practice is essentially unemployed until the next contract is secured. Sometimes the next contract could wait 3 months. In the 2008 financial crisis, that extended the famine side of the feast and famine. The answer is to start to looking for the next contract on Day 1 of working on the current contract. Then it is a question of timing and recognizing that one may have to adapt to working on multiple projects in disparate locations. The draw back of that is that this means living out of a suitcase from hotel to hotel - not something I had signed up for because my focus was time with our kids, and not about the time spent with executive teams around the globe. If my partners loved that then it was good for them, and at least with feast and famine, that made the home reality valuable - but a famine cannot be allowed to ruin things - for all things including family and work are a part of a life giving network. The comparison I can make otherwise is choosing a safe job or choosing risk based work. There is plenty of water for employees where the job of sales is delegated to a particular group and the arid strategies of entrepreneurs can see them innovate and adapt to harsh environments but essentially engage a labour of love that accompanies much higher reward/payback.

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