Your niche can move
Four million, one hundred and twenty thousand. That is the number of Google hits for the phrase ‘niche of your company’. Clearly, the biological term ‘niche’ is firmly rooted in business. Animals and plants have niches which determine their place in the ecosystem.
Slithering snake
A serpent eagle’s niche, for example, is to swoop down onto snakes in open grassland. Its body is perfectly suited for this move: strong wings to lift the writhing load off the ground, keen eyes to spot a slithering snake, and sharp claws to grab the slippery prey. The serpent eagle’s niche, in other words, follows automatically from its core capabilities. We can see companies in the same way. A business’s core capacities determine its niche, its position in the market.
Shift its niche
But as an ecologist, I also know that niches are not set in stone. If that same serpent eagle would be marooned on an island, with no other birds of prey to compete with, it will expand its niche and start catching fish and rats as well. Or, if its home range is suddenly invaded by mongooses that are even better at catching snakes, it may shift its niche to eating lizards only. As a species, the serpent eagle has no preconceived concept of its niche, no traditions that need to be honoured. If conditions change, it will just as easily shift away from what it has been doing for millennia.
Ecology of business
Collaboration is another thing. The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata catches ants and other insects in the acid-containing ‘pitchers’ that grow from its leaves. Yet, one species of ant has evolved to withstand its arch-enemy’s stomach acid. Not only that, it even builds its nest in hollow spaces in the plant’s branches. Why? Because it specializes in fishing out the largest insects that fall into the pitchers. These insects are too big for the plant to digest. The ants break them up into pieces, and while eating, drop morsels into the pitcher that are small enough for the plant’s stomach juices to digest. So, both benefit. The former foes have become friends, because the ecology of business advantages dictate it.
Throwing traditions to the wind
The bottom line: in natural ecosystems, survival is all about fearless change and throwing traditions to the wind. And with the current pace of change, business ecosystems might do well to adopt a similar strategy.