Nigeria's SMEs, Learn from the Ants
On The Leadership Lessons from Ants, I wrote in Harvard Business Review:
'Peter Miller has written that swarming animals, like ants, can teach us a lot about planning, military strategy, and business management. They make decisions as a group and depend on one another to survive. Samuel Haldeman had already observed that these small creatures live in unity, are hard-working, prudent and disciplined. It is no wonder the Biblical Solomon rebuked the lazy man: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
"For small business owners, especially, there is a major lesson here. By engaging everyone in the organization, and trusting people, you will have more success. You must not think that only you can close the sales, install the products, and fine-tune the design all by yourself. Give others the opportunities to fail or succeed, and always ask for help...It means understanding like my ancestors that “The ant-hills are not built by elephants, but by the collective efforts of the little rejected ants.”' - Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Harvard Business Review.
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Small business owners in Nigeria, go and learn from the ants. Explore mergers and acquisitions, form cooperatives, and find ways to forge ahead. Right now, the goal is survival, and you must learn how ants thrive to rebuild whenever their systems are perturbed. Good luck!