So here's a little thought experiment that's been buzzing around my head:
If you put both bees and flies into a bottle with the bottom open and the top transparent, the flies will escape quickly, but the bees will stay trapped.
Why?
Bees, the industrious little workers that they are, instinctively head toward the light. They see the sunshine through the transparent top and think, "Aha! Freedom!" They then proceed to bash themselves repeatedly against the glass ceiling.
Flies, however those chaotic, seemingly purposeless creatures bounce around randomly, eventually stumbling upon the open bottom and buzzing off to find the nearest half-eaten sandwich.
Now, if you're anything like me, your first thought might be: "Mfundo, why on earth would someone trap an insect in a bottle?" Fair question. But stick with me.
The Productivity Paradox
This little entomological scenario has got me thinking about how we approach productivity. And I'm wondering if perhaps I've been a bee all along when I should've been more of a fly.
We're obsessed with "doing things right." We read productivity books. We download apps. We create systems. We attend seminars. We highlight passages in books with titles like "The Seven Habits of Highly Efficient Entomologists" or whatever.
And yet, here I am, still feeling trapped. Still bumping against glass ceilings of my own making.
When Structure Becomes a Prison
Let me tell you about James Clear (yes, him again, the "Atomic Habits" bloke who probably forms life-changing habits while brushing his teeth). In his book, he mentions the concept of "systems versus goals." The idea being that you shouldn't focus on the outcome but on the process that leads to the outcome.
Sounds brilliant, doesn't it? Except when your system becomes another glass ceiling.
I've created so many productivity systems that I now need a system to manage my systems. It's systems all the way down, mate. And I'm still trapped in the bottle.
According to that 2019 study from Harvard Business Review , over-systematising can lead to what they call "productivity paralysis." That's when you spend so much time perfecting your approach that you never actually... you know... DO anything.
Is that study real? Maybe. Maybe not. But it SOUNDS real, doesn't it? And that's half the battle when you're writing a blog post at stupid o'clock in the morning.
The Moses Approach vs The Jonah Approach
Think about Moses the man led his people through the desert for 40 YEARS following a specific path, a system, a divine GPS if you will. Very bee-like. Very methodical.
Then you've got Jonah. Man was literally swallowed by a giant fish because he was running in the OPPOSITE direction of where he was supposed to go. Yet, somehow, he still ended up exactly where God wanted him, delivering the message to Nineveh.
Was Jonah's approach more efficient? Debatable. Was it more comfortable? Definitely not. (I imagine being in the belly of a fish is rather unpleasant.) But he got there nonetheless.
As Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord determines their steps." (NIV)
Sometimes our carefully laid plans, our bee-like precision, isn't what gets us where we need to go.
The Case for Controlled Chaos
Now, I'm not suggesting we all become completely chaotic flies, bouncing from task to task with no rhyme or reason. That's just a recipe for ending up on somebody's half-eaten sandwich.
But perhaps there's something to be said for building a bit of randomness into our systems. For allowing ourselves to bounce around occasionally, to try different directions, to not always head towards the most obvious light.
In his book "Antifragile," Nassim Nicholas Taleb argues that some disorder is not just necessary but beneficial. Systems that are too rigid break under stress. Systems with some built-in chaos adapt and even thrive.
The Fly's Freedom
So what would "controlled chaos" look like in practice?
Maybe it's setting aside time each week where you deliberately ignore your to-do list and work on whatever catches your fancy. Maybe it's taking a different route home from work. Maybe it's reading a book outside your field. Maybe it's writing a blog post about insects at 6 AM because your brain won't shut up about it.
In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (NIV)
Perhaps the pattern we need to break free from is our own rigid approach to productivity. Perhaps the glass ceiling we're bumping against is one of our own design.
The Bee's Redemption
Now, if the bottle were flipped, open at the top, closed at the bottom the bee's instinct to move towards the light would lead it straight to freedom, while the fly might remain trapped in its aimless wandering.
There's a lesson there too. Sometimes, the disciplined, structured approach IS the answer. Sometimes, heading straight towards the light DOES lead to freedom.
The trick, I suppose, is knowing which bottle you're in at any given moment.
Finding Your Way Out
So where does that leave us? Are we bees? Are we flies? Are we some bizarre hybrid creature born from the fever dream of a sleep-deprived blogger?
I think, perhaps, we need to be both. We need the bee's sense of purpose, its ability to work systematically towards a clear goal. But we also need the fly's adaptability, its willingness to try different directions, its accidental discoveries.
As Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (NIV)
He didn't say be JUST like snakes or JUST like doves. He said be BOTH. Perhaps the same applies to our bees and flies.
The Way Forward (Or Just the Way)
It's now approaching 8 AM, and I've wrestled another blog into existence. The bees outside are probably starting their day, the industrious little creatures. The flies are doing... whatever flies do. Probably fly things.
And I'm here, trapped in my own bottle, but perhaps now with a better understanding of how to escape.
So here's to being a bit more bee-like when the situation calls for systematic approaches.
And here's to being a bit more fly-like when we need to break free from our self-imposed glass ceilings.
(Even when we're confused about which insect we're supposed to be emulating.)
Because This is What We Do NOW!
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