Phototropism
Companies that survive grow directionally toward resource gradients rather than omnidirectionally.
The gradient is everything. Not 'is this market attractive?' but 'is this market getting more attractive faster than our current market?'
Phototropism is the ability to detect a resource gradient and allocate growth asymmetrically to move toward it. When light hits one side of a plant stem, photoreceptors called phototropins detect it and trigger a cascade: detection, signal transmission, auxin redistribution, asymmetric growth, and bending. The mechanism is elegant: don't grow toward light by pushing - grow toward light by growing faster on the side away from light. The asymmetry creates curvature.
A sunflower seedling exposed to light from the east will have 40% higher auxin concentration on its west side, causing west-side cells to elongate 40% faster. Within 6 hours, the stem visibly bends east. Plants don't just respond to light direction but also intensity, using five different photoreceptor types (phytochromes, cryptochromes, phototropins, UV-B receptors, and chlorophyll) to create a detailed resource map.
Business Application of Phototropism
Companies that survive grow directionally toward resource gradients rather than omnidirectionally. This requires detection (sensing multiple resource gradients), quantification (measuring gradient steepness objectively), and reallocation (moving resources asymmetrically toward strongest gradients, even when it means cannibalizing successful businesses).
Discovery
Charles Darwin (1880)
Darwin's last experiment at age 71: covered tips of grass seedlings with opaque caps and exposed them to directional light. Capped seedlings grew straight up while uncapped seedlings bent toward light, proving 'some influence is transmitted from the upper to the lower part.'