Beedling

For Fun & Profit

A Fable of
Elegant Networking
Jim Ballard

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 CHAPTER ONE: A Hive Anomaly

T
his situation is outrageous!”

Head Queen Zorna was on a rant about honey production. “All

over the farm figures are down,” she fumed, “It’s unacceptable! It’s utterly
unconscionable!”

The twenty queen bees assembled in the

great hall cowered before her. They formed
the management team in charge of hundreds
of hives.

“Until recently,” Zorna went on, “our apiary

has maintained its position as a major competitor in honey production. We
have always been respected throughout the bee kingdom for the way we do
bzzness. And suddenly, this!”

All the queens nodded with appropriate gravity. One of them named Zella
said, “Your Majesty, we must take drastic steps to reverse this terrible
decline. The fault must lie with the workers. I propose we make those bees
work longer hours.”

“I agree,” chimed in a queen called Zuria. “Those workers are the problem.
They’re lazy. They have no work ethic.” Heads nodded around the room.

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“I say we institute immediate pay cuts,” enthused one named Zola.

“Eliminate breaks and vacations, as well,” added another called Zafia.

As Queen Zorna offered no comment on these suggestions, all over the hall
you could hear hissing threats: “We’re through coddling those workers.”
“We’ll put them in their place!” “No more Ms. Nice Guy!”

In the midst of the blame-buzz a voice was heard from the back of the room.
“Your Majesty, there is one colony where production is up.”

“Eh? What’s that?” Queen Zorna called. “Who’s that speaking?”

The mob parted, falling back on each side so that an opening was created
between the throne and the rear of the room.

A young bee made her way forward amidst whispers of, “Who’s this
upstart?” and, “Where did she come from?”

The newcomer bowed before the throne. “I am Zabrina, a novice,” she said
in her clear voice.

The head queen sniffed in indignation. “What is this preposterous claim you
are making about a hive that is producing well?” she demanded.

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“It is true, Your Majesty. It is my home hive, colony B, Sector 37.”

Queen Zorna shook her head in disbelief. “Surely you’ve made a mistake,”
she scoffed. “You’ve misread the numbers!”

The rest chimed in. “Yeah, what could she know?” “Gotta be a fluke!” “No
buzzin’ way!”

The little queen bowed humbly, but her eyes shone proudly and she smiled.
“Not only is our productivity over quota,” she said. “Our workers enjoy
shorter work days and longer rest periods.”

The hall burst into a swarm of angry chatter. After letting it go on for a few
moments, the head queen rattled her big wings for silence. In her most
condescending tone she addressed Zabrina. “Young lady, this problem of
ours is far too serious to make light of. You will tell us immediately if this is
some sort of sick joke.”

The little queen answered sweetly, “Oh, no, Your Majesty, I would not do
that. I am telling the truth.”

“But, how can that be? To what do you attribute this … this … anomaly?”

“It is a function of the way bees work together in our hive,” Zabrina
answered. “You see, our hive is located at the very edge of the apiary, in the
sector closest to the humans’ commercial center.

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“We have had much opportunity to observe them, and to note any changes in
their behavior. Recently we discovered that their merchants and business
people were interacting in a different way, resulting in a whole new level of
success for all.”

“Very interesting, I’m sure, dear,” a queen called Zoostra interrupted

patronizingly. “But what does all this have to do with our problem?“

Zabrina continued. “Believing there was something to be learned from these

observations, I commissioned a team of explorer bees to find out how the
humans behaved toward one another so effectively. Their reports were very
clear about the cause of the success. To make a long story short, I decreed
that our most effective leader bees were to train the entire hive population in
adopting the success behaviors of the humans.”

“Are you telling me,” Zorna demanded, “that copying what the humans do is
what has produced these fantastic results in pollination?”

Zabrina smiled and curtsied. “That is correct, Your Majesty. What’s more,
the turnaround was immediate. Within days of instituting the new practices,
workers were not only working better, they were working happier.”

Queen Zorna clapped her hands, making everyone in the great hall jump.
“I’ve heard enough,” she announced. “I want to be shown.”

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 CHAPTER TWO: Beedling

A
few days later, Zorna and her entourage were back from their
visit to Colony B, Sector 37, and the queens were in council
once again. They were discussing conditions across the apiary.
Things were looking dark. Production was plummeting.

“Your Majesty,” one queen said, “Why is this decline happening in the rest
of our colonies?”

Zorna shook her head. ”No one knows,” she said. “But don’t think for a
minute I’ve called you here just to wring your hands and kvetch about this
decline. We are going to fight this!”

She paused for effect. “Let me tell you how we are going to do it. You all
are aware that at our last council meeting Queen Zabrina claimed that one
colony in her sector had been turning in above-average pollination
numbers.” Heads nodded.

“When I went to investigate what was going on in that sector,” the head
queen went on, “I confess I was skeptical. But I saw with my own eyes the
extraordinary work those bees were turning out—not to mention their energy
and enthusiasm. They continued to attribute the improvement to a strategy
they had adopted from humans. I know it sounds fantastic, so I’ll let Queen
Zabrina tell you about it in her own words.”

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The bee named Zabrina stood and addressed the group. “It’s true that we
have made a major breakthrough by putting into operation a practice which
our human neighbors use. They have their own terminology for it. We call it
beedling.”

“Beedling,” someone repeated. “What does it mean?”

“Simply stated,” Zabrina said, “beedling is what two or more bees do when
they establish a mutually beneficial relationship and start actively helping
each other improve their life and work. Once workers start beedling,
pollination activity sharply rises.”

“Why do bees who, uh, beedle, pollinate more?” Zola asked.

“Beedling consists of three key components. It’s the particular way that
these ingredients combine that produces the magic. You know of these three
components already. They are simple tools we use for getting along and
working together in the hive. It is when they are combined into beedling that
each practice develops extraordinary power.”

“What are the ingredients?” several members chorused.

“Knozing, lyzing and truzzing,” Zabrina replied. *

* Translation: Knowing, liking and trusting.

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Queen Zorna broke the silence that followed. “Would someone volunteer to
review these key ingredients of beedling, so we’re all on the same page?”

A queen named Zeebee stood and said, “Well, you knoze another bee when
you come to understand who she is and what she’s like. You lyze her when
you have a favorable, even an affectionate feeling toward her. And you truzz
her when you know she is reliable and you can depend on her.”

“That’s right,” said Zabrina. “The power of beedling lies in the degree of
each beedler’s ability to inspire knozing, lyzing and truzzing from others.”

“But,” said a young queen, voicing the question that was on everyone’s
mind, “how do you go about inspiring others to knoze, lyze and truzz you?
We bees are always so bzzy, we hardly have time to even knoze each other.”

“Yes,” another queen added. “When bees spend their time beedling, doesn’t
this take away from their work? Wouldn’t beedling make people less
productive?”

No one made answer to the question. No one had to. The results which
Zorna had witness in Zabrina’s colony said it all.

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Zabrina smiled. “Once people started beedling,” she said, “we observed
them carefully. After a few days of the practice, they were strongly
encouraged to rest from pollinating the crops. But would they do it? No, they
insisted on going right out to work. We couldn’t hold them back. What’s
more, they stayed out way past normal work hours to help each other. When
they returned they were full of energy. They couldn’t wait to get back to
work the next day.”

Zorna thanked Zabrina. After allowing the novice queen’s report to sink in,
she said, “It seems we have a solution, but we are starting from behind. The
underpollination problem is worsening, and our turning it around depends on
the skill of beedlers. As I have learned from my survey of Zabrina’s colony,
beedling is not automatically successful. What we need are bees who are
skillful in the art of inspiring knozing, lyzing and truzzing from others. To
ensure that beedling spreads throughout this great apiary in time, we must
raise up an army of expert beedlers to carry this strategy throughout the
kingdom. This, my dear sisters, is where you come in.

“The next phase of this project will be the preparation of a band of expert
consultants who will travel and spread the art of beedling to other hives. The
smartest, ablest bees are to be chosen for this role. You are to be the
recruiters of this army. Each of you is to send me two of your brightest and
ablest leaders to be enrolled in this training. When they graduate from the
training we will confer on them the title of Master Beedlers. They will go
out in pairs to visit hives in their sectors and teach the skills of beedling.

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“Once they are satisfied that a hive is infected with the nlt formula, they will
move on.”

With that, the meeting became a strategy session. By the time it broke up,
the team of queens was ready to begin the first phase of the all-out campaign
against underpollination. Beedling had arrived.

Congratulations!

You have been chosen

to attend the one-day

Master Beedler Seminar

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 CHAPTER 3: Getting to Knoze You

C
ount off around the room by tens.”

It was the first day of the Master Beedler Seminar, the training of
trainers that would result in an all-out effort to have all bees on the farm
learn and use the beedling technique. Head trainer Zenda had given the first
instruction. When the bees had numbered off, they were requested to form
ten groups. Each group was found to have twelve members. As the bees
were following these instructions, the trainer was writing on a whiteboard.

The next command followed. “Please now form small groups of three with
bees closest to you.” Soon each of the ten groups was separated into four
sets of triads.

“Designate the people in your triad by the letters A, B and C,” Zenda said.
When this was done she said earnestly, “Now, listen carefully to how this
activity will work. There will be three rounds of it. To begin with, A will be
the speaker, B the asker and listener, and C the observer. While C watches,
Person B will ask person A some questions.”

Zenda turned to the whiteboard and read the items she had listed there.

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 o What do you like most about the work you do?
o What are you really good at?
o If you had three wishes, what would they be?
o What if you ran the colony?
o What are you proudest of?

“Feel free to add to or modify these questions,” Zenda said. “If you have
time, think up some of your own.” As participants were absorbing this,
Zenda said. “Now, I know it looks as if the spotlight is on A, and that is true
to an extent. But it is the B person for whom we are doing this. It is for B to
practice asking these questions sincerely, and to show genuine interest in the
responses A gives.” Zenda smiled. “There will be no test on what you
remember. But just decide right now, as B, that your job is to get to know A
very well, just in the five minutes you spend with her.”

“C, you are the observer this round, and next to B, yours is the most
important role. For you will be watching carefully what goes on between A
and B. After they finish, you will share with them what you noticed about
their interaction. Moreover, following your feedback you will ask A and B
for their observations, and what they learned from doing the activity.”

The group was given hardly a moment to absorb these directions before
Zenda called out, “Ready? Go!”

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 For ten minutes the room was literally
abuzz with bee talk. As Zenda walked
around she saw many smiles and
nodding heads. She heard laughter.
She noticed that throughout the room
people were fully intent on their tasks.
They were acting out their reputations
by being “busy as bees.”

After a time she announced, “One minute left!” Finally she gave the order to
stop. She had to give that command loudly several times before the voices
died away. Many bees seemed reluctant to give up their conversations.

“Now, you that are the Cs, please give your reports to your groups.”

The buzzing began, this time seemingly more focused and factual. Soon all
groups were busy sharing the insights they had gleaned from the activity.

Zenda walked to the center of the room and called the group to order. “I
would like to hear from some of you about doing that,” she said. “Let’s hear
from the As first. Raise your wing if you want to share something. As she
called on participants, she noted the gist of what each said on the
whiteboard.

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 • It was as if I were talking to my best friend.
• No one ever took this kind of interest in me before.
• I felt as if my ideas were important.
• I discovered new things about myself.
• I wanted to go on telling more.

“Thank you,” Zenda said. “Now I’d like to hear from the Bs.” As before, she
rounded up and listed the comments from those who had asked and listened.

• I found that I became really interested.

• I could feel deeply with person A when she was talking.
• I found early on that I liked my partner very much.
• As we went on, I developed great respect for A.
• I wanted to get to know her better.

When it was the Cs’ turn to share, Zenda collected the following comments.

• I was amazed at how much is going on when you really pay attention.
• I was surprised at A’s comfort level in answering B’s questions.
• I felt I was watching a friendship open up.
• I developed a liking for these people.
• I wanted to help them in their endeavors.

After a discussion of these outcomes, Zenda called a 15-minute break.

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 CHAPTER 4: Are We Beedling Yet?

W
hen the group returned, Zenda announced the second round
of sharing. “It will work the same way as the first round,”
she sai, “only this time B will be the speaker, C will ask and
listen, and A will observe. Before we start, within your groups of twelve, I’d
like you to rotate the As. So right now, will all the As please stand, say
goodbye to your Bs and Cs, move to the next triad and say hello to your new
Bs and Cs.” There was some confusion, but soon all were seated, and each
triad had one new member.

“Now,” Zenda said, “I will give you Cs –who are now going to be asking the
Bs—some new questions to ask.” She had written on the whiteboard:

o Share one of the proudest moments of in your life,

o Describe a favorite place and why you like it.
o Name three things you love to do, and why.
o Are you ever afraid? Of what, and why?
o Name a trait of someone who inspired you, and tell how you
yourself exhibit it.

“Ready? Go!”

The activity proceeded in the same way as the first. When it was over Zenda
asked for any new and different insights that had been revealed.

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After noting these, she called for another break. When participants returned,
they expected that Zenda would rotate the Bs in each group, and that is just
what she did.

Soon the third round commenced, with each participant assuming the role
she had not played as yet. The new questions for the As to ask the Cs were:

o Who would you like to spend a day with?

o Name three important values of yours.
o What would be your favorite meal?
o Talk about something you don’t understand.
o What place would you most of all like to visit?

The sharing continued into the late afternoon. Finally Zenda assembled the
group and spoke to them. “At this point I want to open up a time for large-
group discussion. What questions do you have by now?”

One bee raised her wing and was called on. She said her name was Zorff.
“I’m puzzled about these activities,” she said. “I mean, they were enjoyable
and all, but I thought we were here to learn about beedling, not do ice-
breakers.” Other heads were nodding around the room, showing that Zorff
was not alone in her concern.

“Tell me,” said Zenda, “what exactly do you mean by beedling?”

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Thousands of eyes turned to the questioner.*

“Uh, beedling is . . . “ the participant stammered, collecting her thoughts.

Finally she said confidently, “It’s a combination of knozing, lyzing and
truzzing.”

“You’re sure about that?” Zenda asked in a kindly but direct manner.

Zorff nodded, and Zenda smiled. “Zorff did well to voice her concern,” she
said. “I want you all to give her a big round of zizzing,” The room seemed to
crackle as hundreds of wings were rubbed together.

“Now,” said Zenda when the room was quiet. “I want to make something
very clear. The first is that what you participated in here, although it resulted
in your getting to know each other, was no mere ice-breaker. It was, in fact,
intensive practice in a key skill of beedling.”

The room came to life as

this realization struck.
Bees looked at each other
in wonderment. That was
it? They seemed to be
saying. We were beedling
already?

* Bees have three simple eyes and two compound ones, each composed of several thousand eyes.

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“Would you say,” Zenda said, “that there was a lot of intense sharing going
on in here?” A hundred and twenty heads nodded. “Let’s see,” she
continued, “what was happening during that sharing, exactly. How many of
you would say you got to knoze others this morning?”

All wings were raised, for it was obvious that through participating in the
activity they had learned and understood much about their partners.

“How many of you would say you got to lyze others this morning?” Again
all the wings were up. Their interactions with each other had also facilitated
mutually appreciation and affectionate feelings.

“And how many came, even in this short time, to truzz other bees? This time
more than half the wings were raised. Some were hesitant, their cautious
nature meaning that they were slower to see others as dependable.

“Good,” said the trainer. “Now let’s take this apart to see what caused you
all to so quickly develop a knozing, lyzing and truzzing of each other.”

The body of participants blinked together. They had not realized that during
the exercise they were indeed developing these attitudes toward one
another—at a very amazing rate of speed! They leaned forward in
anticipation.

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The A Skill

“A very important part of beedling,” Zenda told them, “is what each of you
did when you were in the A spot in our exercise. You were being open, self-
disclosing, sharing yourself in response to B’s questions; isn’t that right?”
All nodded.

The B Skill

“Next, when you played the part of a B, you were most definitely in the role
of a beedler. You were asking questions, listening, encouraging, showing
interest, and facilitating your partner’s sharing of herself.” Zenda pointed to
the list of As’ comments on the whiteboard. “Just look at how you affirmed
and empowered these people. You made them feel important. You made
them feel you were their best friend! One of the comments here suggests that
you helped them feel that their dreams were possible. What you were
practicing in your B roles, although you were not aware of it, was a
foundational skill of beedling, for beedling is about interacting with others
in such a way as to further them on their way to success.

The C Skill

“Now, what was going on when you were in your role as a C? You were
observing carefully, watching the interaction, and analyzing it so as to be
ready to describe how you saw it to A and B. As Cs, you were in fact
watching two things—behaviors and responses.

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A behavior is anything a person says or does. A response is what another
person says or does, because of what the person said or did. If you think
back you’ll see that this is what you were watching. You were being
scientists of interaction. This also is an important beedling skill. As a
beedler, you must be able to ‘read’ the effects on others of your own words
and actions, to see if they are making the responses you want.”

Zenda looked around the room with a smile. “This concludes our morning,”
she said. I will see you all after lunch. But before you go I must tell you that
you all have been doing an excellent job. I am very encouraged. You are the
right bees in the right place at the right time, for you are going to help bring
not only a change in production, but a social transformation, to this apiary.”

The trainer gave her wings a long and hearty zizz in acknowledgement of her
group of trainees, and dismissed them.

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 CHAPTER 5: What’s Your Dream?

T
he exercise we did this morning engaged you in the practice of
three key lead-up skills.”

Trainer Zenda was opening the afternoon session of the Beedling Mastery
Seminar. “You told me that through the practice of those skills, which we
can call the ABC skills, you got to knoze, lyze and truzz others in your
groups. Let’s review them again.” Zenda wrote on the whiteboard:

• A—Being open and sincere in sharing yourself

• B—Engaging others by questioning and listening
• C—Observing and being sensitive to what others do and say

“Ordinarily, knozing, lyzing and truzzing someone else is difficult enough,

the trainer continued. “When you use the ABC skills to get I to knoze, lyze
and truzz you, you are practicing the art of beedling.”

A wing went up and Zenda called on the participant, whose name was
Zzoey. “It sounds,” Zzoey said, “as if beedling is earning the right to be
knozed, lyzed and truzzed.”

“That’s exactly right,” answered Zenda.

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“But, how do you do that?” Zzoey continued.

Zenda smiled. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said. “This afternoon session
is the answer to your question.” The trainer had everyone give Zzoey a big
zizz. Then she asked people to form groups according to their morning
numbers. Soon people were sitting with new members.

“You are in groups of twelve. Please now swing your chairs around so as to
form two sub-groups of six people each.” As this was being done, Zenda
wrote on the whiteboard.

What’s Your Dream?

When the groups were settled, she pointed to the phrase. “This is the name
of the exercise you are about to do. I want all of you now to close you eyes
for a moment and relax.”

She waited a few moments. Then she said, “Now create a mental picture of
your answer to the question I wrote: ‘What’s your dream?’ Think of what
you would most like to happen in your life. What if you could have that
happen right now? In your mind, give that dream to yourself. See yourself in
that ideal environment in living color, doing what it is you dream of doing,
having what you dream of having. See who and what is around you.
Experience the pleasure of being, doing and having what you have dreamed
of.

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“I will leave you alone for a minute to enjoy that dream coming true in your
mind.”

The room was silent. As Zenda looked around at the participants sitting so
still, she saw smiles of pleasure and delight appearing on many faces. It’s
working, she thought.

After a while she said gently, “Let go of that dream now, bring yourself back
to this room, and open your eyes.” She directed their attention to a new
phrase she had placed on the board:

How can I help?

These directions followed: One person in each group was to share her dream
with the others. When she finished, the others were to brainstorm ideas and
resources and other ways they could help make her dream a reality. They
were to contribute in every way possible.

The brainstorm would last ten minutes. Then another person was to share her
dream, and the group was to go to work as before, helping make the dream
come true. The activity would continue until each of the six had shared their
dreams and had the group respond with assistance.

“I will be the time-keeper,” Zenda said. “Ready? Go!”

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After the activity, Zenda reconvened the large group. She asked for feedback
about the exercise. “What was it like to have others help you with your
dream?” she asked, and listed responses on the whiteboard. These included
the following:

• My dream now seems much more of a possibility.

• Five people who were strangers to me are now my trusted friends.
• I couldn’t believe the kindness of these people.
• My group gave me many ideas I never would have thought of.
• I have a whole new sense of inevitability about my dream.
• I have things to do, places to go, people to see, about making my
dream happen.
• My dream is already coming true. I’m on my way. It’s only a matter of
time.

“Thank you,” Zenda said. “Great job. Now, tell me what it was like to be
one of the brainstormers, doing the work for other dreamers.” Again, she
wrote the comments down:

• It was great fun.

• I really liked the sense of helping others.
• Watching each dreamer’s face as we gave our ideas was a delight.
• I felt myself to be part of a crack R&D team.
• It was exciting to be helping make dreams happen, right here.

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 • I was glad for the chance to give back to others who’d helped me on
my dream.
• I loved having people help me with my dream, but helping others with
theirs was the most enjoyment of all.

“Okay,” said Zenda, putting down her marking pen. “What do you think you
have been doing this last hour?”

“Beedling!” was the response from most of the group.

“Right,” the trainer affirmed. “I want to take you back to the question to
which I said the afternoon would be the answer. Where is Zzoey?” The bee
in question stood. “Would you repeat the question, please?”

Zzoey said, “I had asked, ‘If beedling is earning the right to be knozed, lyzed
and truzzed, how do you do that?”

“Thank you,” Zenda said. “Now you all have the answer. It’s time to give
the full definition of the process you all came here to learn.” She stepped to
the white board and wrote:

Beedling happens when two or more people

use the ABC skills to learn each other’s aspirations
and help each other to accomplish them.

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Now the trainer asked each group of six to sit for a while and discuss this
definition. Soon the room was abuzz with great energy and intention.

After a time Zenda said, “Now talk about how you will make beedling start
to happen in your own life.”

Following a long period of discussion, she called a twenty-minute break.

When the group returned and was seated, Zenda said, “How long do you
think it would take to become a Master
Beedler?” There were several guesses.
Some said a year. Some said five years.
The shortest guess was six months.
Zenda thanked the participants and said,
“Guess what. You’re all correct.
Learning to master the beedling craft is
an ongoing process—but for each of
you, that process has already begun.

“You are already beedlers. You understand what beedling is. More
importantly, you know by direct experience what true beedling feels like.
Congratulations, my sisters! You are on your way to becoming Master
Beedlers. That competency will come to each of you through your task of
training others to beedle. Good luck, and beedle on!”

THE END

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