Reflection 2.4.1

Reflection

Lessons from Geese by Milton Olson

To help us understand teams even better, we shall use the flying behavior of geese as an example. Geese are birds common in most parts of the world and also in Kenya. These birds fly in a V formation and they display some powerful lessons for managers of organizations including education institutions. Let us look at five lessons we can learn.

·         Lesson one: By flying in a V formation, a flock of geese adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Thus, people who share a common vision and direction can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another

·         Lesson two: When a goose falls out of formation; it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. Hence, if we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we are going. We should be willing to accept and give help to others.

·         Lesson Three: When a goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose takes the front position. It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing responsibilities. Just as with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts and resources

·          Lesson Four: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those upfront to keep up the speed. We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is greater. The power of encouragement allows one to stand by one’s core values and encourage the core values of others.

·         Lesson five: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect until it dies or flies again. They launch another V formation to catch up with the flock. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

        Discuss how you can apply these lessons in your institution.