Last week I wrote about how geese stick together through thick and thin.

Well, I think it’s safe to say buffalo make geese look like a bunch of sissies.  Be sure to watch this all the way to the end. Just trust me when I say this this video has more twists and turns than anything I’ve ever witnessed.

We humans can learn a lot from geese. Yes, that’s right, geese.

In fact, in 1991 Angeles Arrien gave a speech called “Lessons from Geese” that was largely based on the work of Milton Olson.

What follows is my take on the story.

Lesson 1: Fly Together

It’s truly a marvelous site to see a group of geese flying together in perfect V formation. Research has shown that as each goose flaps its wings an intense uplift is created for the birds behind them. Further studies state that this “teamwork” adds 71% more flying range compared to a goose flying on its own.

Moral of the Story: Partnerships and teamwork rule the day. The days of the Lone Ranger are long gone (bad example, as even the Long Ranger had Tonto but you know what I mean). If you surround yourself with excellent people you’re far more likely to succeed than if you attempt to go at it alone.

Lesson 2: Stay in formation

If you’ve ever watched geese fly, you’ve likely seen one fall out of formation. And when this happens the fallen away goose begins to struggle mightily until it manages to fight its way back into formation.

Moral of the Story: Once you’ve established a good team stay together and work together. Sure, times will get tough and you may become annoyed with one another from time to time… but synergy cannot be created by a single person working in isolation.

Lesson 3: Rotate

While flying in V formation the lead goose eventually tires and rotates to the back of the pack to re-charge their battery while another goose takes its place at the front.

Moral of Story: It’s important to share the load amongst team members. It’s also important to ensure that all workers are cross trained and able to perform multiple tasks. As an aside, we recently added a skill matrix module to the Gemba Academy School of Lean that deals with this very situation.

Lesson 4: Honk

While it’s not always possible to hear from the ground, geese are a noisy bunch when flying in V formation. There are several theories of why this is. One theory is the geese honk to encourage each other… while another theory hypothesizes the honking is used to communicate where each goose is. You know, hurry up pal (honk, honk) I’m right on your feathers.

Moral of the Story: No matter the reason for goose honking, it goes without saying that we should always communicate with one another offering encouragement as needed. We should also have ways to communicate when something is not right. This can be likened to the way lean companies “pull the andon cord” when a problem arises.

Lesson 5: Leave no Goose Behind

Whenever a goose becomes unable to fly (becomes sick, gets a bullet in the belly, etc.) two other geese fall out of formation and stay with their fallen comrade until the impaired goose is able to fly or dies.

Moral of the Story: The best teams I’ve ever been on were made of people who genuinely cared for each other and would always help each other out no matter the situation. It seems geese figured this out a long time ago.

Any others?

Do you agree with these lessons?  If you are an expert in geese please feel free to share other examples or lessons we can learn from our feathered friends.

One of my favorite things about LSS Academy, aside from the thousands of awesome comments you’ve all left the past few years, is how I get to sneak in personal aspects of my life from time to time.

I especially love to write about my kids and how they teach me so much about life – and continuous improvement.

Memory Lane

Close to two years ago I wrote about how my then 4 year old daughter (now 6) learned to ride her bike and how it taught me about why simply allowing others to try and possibly fail is so important.

A few months later my then 2.5 year old daughter learned how to swim and I was so proud and inspired by her lack of fear.

Then, last summer my kids taught me again about having no fear as they held my hand and told me it would be OK as we traveled down some ridiculously huge water slides!

Big Girl Bikes

And now, I’d like to share with you the latest edition of milestones in the Pereira family. This time we’re back to my now 4 year daughter (the swimmer) who recently learned to ride her “big girl bike” without training wheels.

You see, she’s been after me for weeks to let her have a shot… so the other night we took her training wheels off and my wife and I took turns running behind her.  And you know what?  In less than 5 minutes she had it as if she’d been riding like this for years.

The Lesson

The lesson for me was simple. Quit worrying about why something may not work… instead stay focused on trying to make it work. You never know, it may be easier than you think.

Message to my Daughter

Finally, way to go “Boo” Daddy is very proud of you!  Someday you’ll read this post and realize just how much you’ve taught and inspired me.  Keep it up sweetie!