Yesterday I wrote a piece at SVProjectManagement.com about an important lesson we can learn from the Fish Pond Metaphor: the need to preplan.

"The idea about preplanning is to equip yourself in such a way that you can adapt to circumstances. That you create an start situation that is as good as you possibly can. If you go to the arctic, you take warm cloths, if you go to the tropics you pack T-shirts. If you don’t know, you pack several shirts you can wear over each other, depending on the temperature."

Photography by Jurvetson.

Come to think of it, nature itself has made sure that fish have properties that allow them to adapt in changing environments.

"… fishes inhabit many different aquatic habitats— from riffles and pools of large rivers and small streams to natural and artificial lakes, ponds and oxbows. Each species has adapted to survive in one or more of these habitats, but few can survive in all habitats. Traits that allow a species to live in a particular habitat can be adaptations in temperature tolerance, salt tolerance, the ability to breath air when needed, and in body form. Adaptations of a fish’s body that allow a species to survive in different habitats include shape of the body, fin location, and mouth size and orientation." (source)

To help you get your creative juices flowing, to expand your gray matter, to dust off that ol' brain of yours, why not spend this weekend a couple of minutes thinking about how Mother Nature's gift to fish to adapt might be inspirational for your own (project) organization.

Give it a shot with this and this article (thanks Ali for pointing them out to me).