Lessons from the Geese, was written in 1972 by Dr Robert McNeish of Baltimore, a science teacher who was intrigued by the behaviour of geese and first wrote a piece consisting of five facts about geese behaviour followed by five lessons that could be drawn from that behaviour, for a sermon he delivered in his church.

You might like to use the following template, based on the good doctor’s original work (and some of the embellishments of the other people who have taken it up), as a team building exercise within your business (though, with a bit of a twist, it can be made to work for any group).

Further Research

If you are truly intrigued by this exercise, you might like to take advantage of the research done by Sue Widemark: http://suewidemark.com/lessonsgeese.htm

Exercise Directions

(You will gain from doing this alone – but you’ll gain a lot more from doing it in a group.)

Working in a group, you might consider having each member follow each of the steps below alone, then repeat the exercise as a group activity to draw together all of the insights and to distil the “essential lessons” from each behaviour:

1. Read each fact about geese behaviour, then reflect upon what lessons that behaviour might hold for you and your team.
2. Use the template below to catch your thoughts about the lessons you discern in each fact.
3. Once you feel you have exhausted the lessons, turn to the “stock lesson” for this behaviour provided below, then reconsider your own insights to see if one can add to them.
4. Discuss and exchange your insights.
5. Resolve on “commitments to action” (things you now commit to do differently as a result of your insights).
6. Write out your common insights and display them in a manner that will keep them ‘top of mind’ in your team, for however long they are useful.

Exercise

Study each fact about the behaviour of geese, and look for lessons that you might draw from that fact, and apply in the context of your business, to produce a better result (more productivity, less stress, smoother relations, etc):

Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lessons I can see:

Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lessons I can See:

Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lessons I can see:

Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lessons I can see:

Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Lessons I can see:

Dr McNeish’s Lessons

The good doctor drew the following lessons from the behaviour of geese. You might like to use them to stimulate your thoughts about the lessons you discerned, and to reach for a couple of “stretch” lessons to really pack value into this exercise:

Lesson 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.

New Lessons I can see:

Lesson 2: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

New Lessons I can see:

Lesson 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

New Lessons I can see:

Lesson 4: We need to make sure honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

New Lessons I can see:

Lesson 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

New Lessons I can see:

Group Discussion

Discuss your insights among yourselves, and be sure to capture any new lessons or insights that other team members have shared with you.

Group Lessons I can see:

Commitment to Action

As a result of this exercise, we will now do the following differently:

1. _________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________

Peter Rowe is the Managing Director of ProfiTune Business Systems, one of Australia’s foremost Business Improvement Specialists whose clients include both multinational corporations and small private companies across every quarter of the business arena. Peter’s new book ‘Solving the People Puzzle’ is due for release in 2010.

www.profitune.com