Why It’s Called the BEE Cycle™

A personal story as to why I chose BEE

I just posted about the BEE Cycle - https://blog.brettmaytom.com/p/the-bee-cycle. I am just sharing a personal story as to how the name came about.

The BEE cycle did not start with a neat diagram or a brand name. It started as an attempt to describe how people actually move from a problem to a solution, without shortcuts, theatre, or borrowed frameworks that do not fit.

Early on, I planned to call it the Boost Framework. The word boost fits what I was trying to do. Help leaders and teams improve outcomes in a positive, pragmatic and practical way. But as I explored trademarking, it became clear that the name was not viable. That forced a pause. And that pause mattered.

Around that time, I was spending long hours in the hospital with my daughter.

I talked a lot. She listened. She questioned. She challenged. Not in a formal way. In a human way. I would explain how I saw problems unfolding in organisations. How people rushed from idea to solution. How leaders skipped the hard thinking and then wondered why change did not stick. She helped me slow down and think more clearly about what actually happens between noticing a problem and making a real improvement.

The cycle itself was already there in my head. What she helped with was expression. Making the thinking simpler. More honest. More grounded.

She loved bees. Really loved them. She even had a “bee’s knees” tattoo. After she passed, it did not feel right to just find another name and move on as if those conversations had never happened. They mattered. She mattered. This cycle exists in part because of those moments where ideas were tested by curiosity, not ego.

So it became the BEE cycle.

Not as a gimmick. Not as a metaphor stretched too far. But as a way to honour her contribution and the way she helped me think.

Bees do not rush. They explore. They gather. They build deliberately. They create systems that work because each step depends on the last. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is performative. Everything has a purpose.

That is what this cycle is about.

The BEE cycle is not about speed for the sake of speed. It is about moving deliberately from exposure to improvement, without pretending certainty exists where it does not. It is about respecting the space between problem and solution. The thinking. The learning. The enabling. The human work that most approaches gloss over.

Naming it this way keeps me honest.

Every time I write about it, teach it, or apply it, I am reminded why it exists. It is not to sell a method. It is not to win an argument about agility. It is to help people do better, more thoughtful work in environments that are often impatient and noisy.

The name is personal. The intent is practical.

That combination is not accidental.