“Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.” – Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287-212 BCE) Greek mathematician, philosopher, scientist & engineer
We’ve all experienced it. Pushing a boulder uphill, leaning into the wind, paddling upstream. Gathering momentum for life sometimes leaves us winded, bereft of energy and purpose. If moving our mountain feels like Sisyphus, ask our fellow Earth-creatures. They have proper leverage because they function as a wider “We,” moving together.
Humans are amateurs when it comes to coordinated movement and adaptive change. Silo mentality and rugged individualism are to blame, i.e., the need to perch atop a pyramid, to go it alone and stand out or supersede others, the equivalent of waving a #1 foam finger. Domination and annihilation characterize the worst of our species. When it comes to leverage, momentum, energy, and movement, our creature-kin really are the experts. They move the Earth.
In a word? Collaboration. Earth-moving animals operate as a “We.”
Geomorphology (landform evolution) is the way animals sculpt the Earth through processes like bioturbation, bioconstruction, and bioerosion. Their collective energy to do the work of moving the Earth is nothing less than astounding. In the late 19th c., Charles Darwin made us aware of the collective work of earthworms in soil formation. In the late 20th c., physical geographer David Butler coined the term “Zoogeomorphology” to describe landform evolution caused by animals. Butler was studying the work of Grizzlies in Glacier National Park who, over the course of a century, had relocated about 15,000 dump-truck loads of dirt downslope while food foraging and excavating their dens. Physical geographer Gemma L. Harvey published findings analyzing 500 species, learning that “trampling hippos create entirely new river channels, and burrowing crayfish widen the banks of existing ones. They found that hulking termite mounds cover an Iceland-size patch of Brazil. ‘Those are huge areas,’ Harvey says, ‘huge amounts of soil being transformed.’”
When it comes to moving Earth, Archimedes was spot-on. If we have the right leverage, we can move the Earth. Collaboration is that leverage. And Nature does it best. Sculpting rock? Leave it to water and wind. They work well together.
Collaboration is more than just a division of labor. It’s healthy communication upfront, before any decisions are made, before goals, before tasks. It begins with reciprocity.
Here’s what collaboration offers to move our metaphorical mountains and carve a path with creative energy and flow:
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Increased enthusiasm for a shared vision
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Unfettered creativity and malleability
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Abundant energy
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Underlying trust
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Motivation to catalyze progress
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Intentional, authentic communication
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Shared commitment and responsibility for tasks leading to common goals
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Measurable outcomes for KPIs
It matters that we connect with good communication, transparency, and trust as prerequisite to collaboration. Collaboration on a given project/goal gives us energy, and deepens our commitment to the whole.
Collaboration in professional settings, at homes, among friends, in our communities, organizations, and teams requires extra effort upfront to connect, communicate proactively, and relinquish control for the good of the whole.
AND it is the leverage required to move the Earth.
What can we learn from our elders, our creature-kin, and our major sculptor-partners in the biosphere, our arbor-elders (trees), water, wind, and fire? The key is collaboration, cooperation, and communication. Connect. Connect. Connect.
