If one tree is chopped, then the stump that is left behind may get nutrients from its neighbours. Alternatively, nutrients may be delivered from tree to stump through fungal networks at the root tips called mycorrhizae. Could it be that, like trees, they stay together as a community because they benefit through their ‘wafa wide web’? Imagining that building companies as communities is wasteful, or that culture is soft stuff and transient, may ignore a powerful, though hidden, social glue. R Gopalakrishnan, Author whose new book, Embrace the Future: The Soft Science of Business Transformation, is due in February(rgopal@themindworks.me)

Source: Indian Express January 30, 2024 06:44 UTC