Reproductive Isolation
Structural separation in organizations prevents 'gene flow' (shared talent, capital, management attention) from homogenizing ventures.
Adaptive radiation requires diverging populations to remain reproductively isolated - if they interbreed freely, gene flow homogenizes them, preventing specialization. Isolation mechanisms include: geographic isolation (populations occupy different locations), ecological isolation (populations specialize on different resources and assortatively mate), and behavioral isolation (mate choice based on coloration or courtship behavior). African cichlids show all three - depth stratification, resource specialization, and color-based mate preference enable 2,000+ species.
Business Application of Reproductive Isolation
Structural separation in organizations prevents 'gene flow' (shared talent, capital, management attention) from homogenizing ventures. Berkshire's subsidiaries operate with complete autonomy; Alphabet's Other Bets failed partly due to insufficient isolation from Google.