Nature — the ultimate impact-driven category creator
We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. — Native American proverb
Nature. Rolling hills. Medley of colors. Stormy seas. Gurgling streams. Birds, animals, fish, trees, and humans.
Mother Nature. She has a wonder in store for us every day. Her creations are the stuff of legends. She inspires poets, artists, musicians, sculptors, designers, marketers, and people from all walks of life. She creates, heals, restores, and destroys. How can we ever repay our debt of gratitude to her?
Every new species is an impact-driven category. Each serves a purpose without violating the balance of the ecosystem. I dare you to find a single species that nature has created that isn’t a new category or a niche down of an existing one.
Forests are home to many species. Big cats, elephants, birds, wildebeests, buffalos, crocodiles, earthworms, eagles, and much much more. It is estimated about 8.7 million species live on earth.
Each serves a purpose-driven impact in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.
- Bees exist to pollinate. Without them, plants would not be able to grow, breed, and produce food
- Coral reefs exist to protect shorelines from storms and coastal erosion
- Trees give oxygen. The lifeblood of the planet. They also store carbon and help maintain the integrity of the soil
- Planktons — unseen, but form the base for marine food
- Even viruses exist to serve a purpose — to balance bacterial populations
- Arctic sea ice to regulate earth’s temperature
And the list goes on.
Nature creates impact-driven categories that live in perfect equilibrium.
HUMANS. Jennifer Dunne of Santa Fe Institute says humans are supposed to have a “stabilizing impact” on nature. We are what is termed “a generalist predator” and were created to “fit into ecosystems without extinctions or major environmental degradation.
But being the most evolved and intelligent species on the planet came with certain inherent responsibilities which Mother Nature couldn’t oversee. Animals are wired to not break or violate the laws of nature. They hunt only when required and breed only seasonally. We humans are/were supposed to be an epic impact-driven category. We are/were supposed to be the guardians!
We have over 100 billion brain cells to help us make an impact! Alas, nature didn’t account for free will. Humans are the only species that have free will. In that, we are not governed physically by the laws of nature. The law of balance that applies to the animal kingdom? We have found ways to break them.
As we found ways to break more and more laws of nature, our impact became negative. We forgot the rules of nature and thought ourselves above them. But just as she creates Mother Nature is also a destructive force. She intervenes to restore equilibrium to the planet. She balances impact design, category design, company design, and product design perfectly! Mother Nature I bow down to you. Please forgive me! I know not your greatness.
I end this post with a quote from Jacques-Yves Cousteau —
“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it”.