Metabolic Flexibility
Metabolic flexibility - the ability to switch fuel sources and operational modes - often matters more than metabolic rate.
Metabolic flexibility - the ability to switch fuel sources - often matters more than metabolic rate.
Organisms can switch between metabolic pathways depending on circumstances. Sprinting? Use glycolysis. Resting? Use oxidative phosphorylation. Starving? Switch to burning fat through different metabolic pathways entirely. This flexibility - the ability to use different metabolic engines - often determines survival.
The hummingbird's ability to enter torpor, the body's ability to switch from glucose to fat metabolism, the cell's ability to shift between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation - all represent metabolic flexibility.
Business Application of Metabolic Flexibility
Metabolic flexibility - the ability to switch fuel sources and operational modes - often matters more than metabolic rate. Microsoft's transformation from license sales to subscriptions demonstrates metabolic flexibility. Companies without it (like WeWork with fixed lease obligations) cannot adapt when conditions change.