Lessons from Slime Mold [IA Summit, April 2009]

Lessons from Slime Mold | March 2009 | 1!
Learning from Slime Mold!
IA Summit, March 22, 2009!
Kate Rutter | http://intelleto.com !

Iʼm Kate.!
Iʼm a designer and strategist.
Making things visible and
visual makes my heart sing.!
I slime mold.!
Adaptive Path is a User Experience strategy and design
consultancy. Our mission is to help companies make
products and services that deliver great experiences that
improve peopleʼs lives.!

What weʼll cover!
1 } !About Slime Mold!
2 } !A new view of organizations, structures  
& environments!
3 } !3 big lessons (and a bunch of little ones)!
4 } !Where to go from here!

They’re not animals and they’re not plants...

They are both plant AND animal…
it’s like they can’t make up their mind…and,
you know, they think it’s them…who’ve
been running the earth all this time.
- David St. Hubbins
Lead singer and rhythm guitarist
SpinalTap
“ ”

lives here...!

looks like....!

sounds like...!
myxomycetes!
mix - oh - my!
see - tees!

sounds like...!
dictyosteliomycota!
dick - tea - oh - stee - lee!
uh - my - coat - uh!

Slime mold lifecycle!
amoeba! aggregation!
plant-like!
slug! fruiting 
body!
spore!stalk!
animal-ish!

Letʼs see it big as life...!
(You are a part of this.)!

These are slime mold.!
+!
You are the forest ﬂoor.!

Phase 1!
 Eating!
 Sensing!
 Signals!
 Growing!

Phase 2!
 Sensing!
 Signaling!
 Clustering!

Phase 3!
 Slugging!
 Crawling!

Phase 4!
 Settling!
 Stalking!

Phase 5!
 Fruiting!

Phase 6!
 Sporing!
 Dispersing!

rinse. repeat. (as needed)!

(they did awesome)!

plants! animals!

Evelyn Fox Keller!
Physicist, Author,
Feminist!
M.I.T.!
Study of complex
biology “from below.”!

Steven Johnson!
Author!
Interface Culture!
Mind Wide Open!
Everything Bad is Good for You!
The Ghost Map!
The Invention of Air!
Study of complex
systems, dynamics and
emergent behaviors.!

Slime Mold:!
The patron saint
of innovation!

organism!
environment!
thriving!
nourishing!
surviving!
hostile!
striving!
tough!
ﬁghting!
ﬂeeing!
dying!
eating!
signaling!
sensing!growing! grappling!
get up & moving!
clustering! stalking!
crawling! fruiting!

organism!
environment!
constant conversation
with the environment!

People are not slime mold.!
≠!

so...whatʼs what?!
individual!
team!
company!
industry!
market!

B = ƒ(P,E)! Behavior is a function of
a person and the
environment.!
- Lewinʼs equation!
E = ƒ(P,B)! Environment is a
function of a person and
their behavior.!
- Extended from the
incredibly awesome Friday
keynote by Michael
Wesch.!

B = E!
Our behaviors are our
environments.!

•  Hierarchical!
•  Static!
•  Top-down!
•  Every person has one speciﬁc place!
•  Environment created by authority  
& control!
•  Multi-dimensional!
•  Dynamic!
•  Bottom-up!
•  People have many associations!
•  Environment created by relationships  
& participation!

or!
Static !
Centralized
Hierarchical
Rigorous!
Top-down
Chunky !
Designed
Planned !
Rational !
Linear !
Taxonomies
Designed
Task !
Done !
Consumer!
Dynamic
Distributed
Networked
Loose!
Bottom-up
Fine-grained
Emergent
Self-organized
Irrational
Interlinked
Facets
Adaptive
Possibility
Always doing
Participant!

Static !
Centralized
Hierarchical
Rigorous!
Top-down
Chunky !
Designed
Planned !
Rational !
Linear !
Taxonomies
Designed
Task !
Done !
Consumer!
Dynamic
Distributed
Networked
Loose!
Bottom-up
Fine-grained
Emergent
Self-organized
Irrational
Interlinked
Facets
Adaptive
Possibility
Always doing
Participant!
AND!
and!
and!
and!
and!
and!

Static !!
Centralized!
Hierarchical!
Rigorous!
Top-down!
Chunky !!
Dynamic!
Distributed!
Networked!
Loose!
Bottom-up!
Fine-grained!
Emergent!
Designed!
Planned !!
Rational !!
Linear !!
Taxonomies!
Designed!
Task !!
Done !!
Consumer!
Self-organized!
Irrational!
Interlinked!
Facets!
Adaptive!
Possibility!
Always doing!
Participant!
Welcome to the world of AND!

organism!
environment!
constant conversation
with the environment!

How can we do our best work?!
2} Understand the environment!
environment!
organism!
1} Understand the organism!

exploring! get up & moving!grappling! exploring!exploring! exploring!
Environment : tough!
Behaviors : !~ sensing!
!~ signaling!
!~ clustering!
get up & moving!

limited resources!
competition!
lack of respect!
no shared vision!
ambiguity!
unclear paths!
barriers!
power imbalances!
no trust!
shifting landscape!
disconnect on values!
disagreement of purpose!highly political!
tough environments!
grappling

cAMP saves the day!
grappling
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX5Yiz38fgY

slime!
mold!
responds!
by!
clustering!
grappling

Great signals are!
~ sticky!
~ loud!
~ visual!}!
tips &
tactics
Great signals to and from many
sources increase your survival 
ability and informs the environment
about whatʼs going on.!
grappling

Sticky signals!
grappling
S simple!
U unexpected!
C concrete!
C credible!
E emotional!
S stories!

High-volume signals!
 Memorable!
 Energetic!
 Have a pattern!
 Get reinforced!
grappling

grappling
Visual signals!
 Visual ideas get through faster!
 Pictures communicate a more complete idea!
 Images are more durable and memorable!

You can always chose
what you do next.
- Scott Berkun
Author and very, very smart guy
“ ”

get up & moving! exploring!exploring!
Environment : hostile!
Behaviors : !~ slugging!
!~ crawling!
!~ settling!
!~ stalking!
grappling!exploring!

hostile environments!
Something is 
trying to kill you.!
get up & moving

slime!
mold!
responds!
by!
clustering!
get up & moving

You need to know: 
~ what wonʼt you give up?!
~ what can you leave behind? 
~ how much will you participate  
in the collective action?!
cheaters!
martyrs!
survivors!}!
Tips &
Tactics
What role are you going to play in !
survival tactics?!
get up & moving

cheaters!
get up & moving

People are not slime mold.!
≠!

Interestingly, we noted that cheats only
cheated in the presence of non-cheaters –
when they could get away with not ʻbailing
waterʼ. !
When surrounded by other cheaters, they
contribute to the group effort again, ʻawareʼ
that if no one does, all of them will die.!
- Dr Chris Thompson, Faculty of Life Sciences 
University of Manchester!
get up & moving
“
”

get up & moving
Martyrs!
The Moses Paradox:!
You lead people to the
promised land.!
But you never get !
there yourself.!

Moses paradox people!
- Works to protect people on the team!
- Stands up strongly for values!
- Speaks truth to power!
- Holds difﬁcult conversations with stakeholders!
- Negotiates for the time & resources for action!
- Held accountable for hardline outcomes, change and  
proven impacts!
- Functions in environments with severe ambiguity!
get up & moving

get up & moving

get up & moving
Survivors!
Maslowʼs Hierarchy:!
Know what matters, and
where it is on the scale.!

Acclimate to the!
new environment!
quickly get back into!
explorer habits!!
get up & moving

exploring!
Environment : nutrient-rich!
Behaviors : !~ eating!
!~ sensing!
!~ signaling!
!~ growing!
grappling! get up & moving!exploring!

nourishing!
plentiful!
purpose-driven!
shared vision & purpose!
expansive!
open!
supportive!
resource-rich!
high trust!
unmetered!
strong shared values!
inviting!participatory!
rich environments!
exploring

Making rich environments: 
~ collective play!
~ simple rules of engagement!
~ shared standards 
~ always be sensing!
~ always be signaling!
TAZs!
listening platforms!
work out loud!
happiness checklist!
}!
Tips &
Tactics
How do your actions directly
enhance the environment?!
exploring

TAZ : Temporary Autonomous Zones!
A socio-political tactic of
creating temporary spaces
that elude formal structures of
control.!
exploring
 R&D / skunkworks projects!
 Wieden+Kennedy  
Slime Mold Award!
 Google 20%!

We’re having fun...
but we’re not kidding.
- Brenda Laurel
California College of Art
“ ”

listening platforms!
Technologies and tools that
you can listen for, send, and
reinforce signals. !
exploring
 Twitter, RSS, Google Alerts, Facebook, etc.,!
 talk to people at the seams of the company!
 keep all eyes and ears open : ask for strategy  
docs, watch the market!

Where is the difference
between being  
self-employed and  
un-employed?!

work out loud!
Post work, notes, signals and
information in visible and
high-trafﬁc areas. Open the
doors to participating in
design work.!
exploring
 open design sessions!
 information radiators!
 walk-by contribution!

exploring
 Have satisfying work to do!
 The chance to be good at something!
 Connections with people we truly like!
 The opportunity to be a part of something bigger!
Jane McGonigalsʼ list of things
that we all need to be happy...!

 Have satisfying work to do!
 The chance to be good at something!
 Connections with people we truly like!
 The opportunity to be a part of something bigger!
exploring
Connect with people we truly like!
Jane McGonigalsʼ list of things
that we all need to be happy...!

Static !!
Centralized!
Hierarchical!
Rigorous!
Top-down!
Chunky !!
Dynamic!
Distributed!
Networked!
Loose!
Bottom-up!
Fine-grained!
Emergent!
Designed!
Planned !!
Rational !!
Linear !!
Taxonomies!
Designed!
Task !!
Done !!
Consumer!
Self-organized!
Irrational!
Interlinked!
Facets!
Adaptive!
Possibility!
Always doing!
Participant!
Welcome to the world of AND!

4 simple things!
1 } !Make places and spaces for collective play.!
2 } !Work out loud.!
3 } !Sense with intent;  
signal back what you learn.!
4 } !Constantly tune behaviors.!
Take me
home

It doesn’t get easier.
You just get faster.
- Alison Barrett
Bicyclist, thinker and
community organizer
“ ”

My cAMP is spiraling!
Semantic
web!
Evolve or die!
Social participation
& meme-making!
Ubiquity or
bust!
Frameworks,
platforms &
modularity!
Social
architectures!
Namba
Tok!
Storytelling
deconstructed!
Tribe vs. Community!
Device as context!
The computer is using us!
Care to confront
and connect!

Hell yes.!

Questions!

Image Credits | Sketches by Kate Rutter!
Cover Image: SEM of the Dictyostelium Developmental Stages, Image by Larry Blanton
http://www.dictybase.org/Multimedia/LarryBlanton/dev.html
Copyright, M.J. Grimson & R.L. Blanton, Biological Sciences Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Texas Tech University.!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/myriorama/675955701/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atypically_me/66036673/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/330642929/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cramsay23/1520892178/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/158284513/!
http://www.flickr.com/search/?page=3&q=slime+mold&z=t&l=cc&ss=0&ct=0!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/2759839949/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nez/159580421/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryce/56404690/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kstoeckel/1793679806/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epzibah/296017012/http://www.flickr.com/photos/epzibah/296017012/!
http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/cocktail_party_physics/images/2008/10/05/slime.jpg!
http://www.burningcutlery.com/derek/slime/images/paper2-const.gif!
http://hopf.chem.brandeis.edu/yanglingfa/pattern/spiral/dd0.gif!
http://metafysica.nl/dictyo1.jpg!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haeckel_Mycetozoa.jpg!
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_01/mosesHeston2703_468x611.jpg!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilyelliott/1197528160/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/double-h/348964034/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/1095006108/!
http://digitalphilosophy.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/taz.jpg!
http://forums.i80s.com/uploads/1171641553/gallery_1_1_4845.jpg!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/double_o_zero/3278090358/!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rorymunro/3061446796/!
http://bioinfo.bact.wisc.edu/themicrobialworld/Haeckel.jpg!

Thanks!!
Have a wonder-ﬁlled day.!
Kate Rutter!
Twitter: !@katerutter!
Blog: ! !intelleto.com!

Lessons from Slime Mold [IA Summit, April 2009]

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Lessons from Slime Mold [IA Summit, April 2009]