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Slide 2 A LESSON FROM GEESE on HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, LEADERSHIP and TEAMWORK AUTHOR UNKNOWN Slide 3 Have you ever wondered why migrating geese fly in a V formation? As with most animal behavior, God had a good reason for including that in their instincts. Slide 4 As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following. In a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone. Slide 5 and quickly gets back into formation. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone Slide 6 people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier than those who try to go it alone. Like geese Slide 7 When a goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. If people had as much sense as geese, they would realize that ultimately their success depends on working as a team, taking turns doing the hard tasks, and sharing leadership. Slide 8 Geese in the rear of the formation honk to encourage those up front to up their speed. It is important that our honking from behind be encouraging. Otherwise its just - well - honking. Slide 9 They stay with the unhealthy member of the flock until it is either able to fly again or dies. When a goose gets sick or wounded, two other geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and provide protection. Slide 10 Then they launch out again with another passing flock or try to catch up with their own. May we be so sacrificial, that we may be worthy of such friends in our time of need. Slide 11 To learn from Gods marvelous creation; you only need to stop long enough to observe and let God reveal His wonders to you. To learn from Gods marvelous creation; you only need to stop long enough to observe and let God reveal His wonders to you. YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A SCIENTIST... YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A SCIENTIST... Slide 12 Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? JOB 12:7-9 SOMEONE ASKED THE GEESE SOMEONE ASKED THE GEESE Slide 13 Good old lessons in teamwork from an age-old fable The Tortoise And The Hare 12 Slide 14 Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. Im the fastest runner. Thats not true. The fastest runner is me! 13 Slide 15 Ok, lets have a race. Fine! They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. 14 Slide 16 The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. Poor guy! Even if I take a nap, he could not catch up with me. 15 Slide 17 He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. 16 Slide 18 The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. 17 Slide 19 The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race. 18 Slide 20 The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with. 19 Slide 21 The story continues 20 Slide 22 The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. Why did I lose the race? 21 Slide 23 Can we have another race? Ok. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. 22 Slide 24 This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. 23 Slide 25 The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organization, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organizational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable. 24 Slide 26 But the story doesn't end here 25 Slide 27 The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. How can I can win the hare? 26 Slide 28 He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. Sure! Can we have another race? This time well go through a different route. 27 Slide 29 They started off. In keeping with his self- made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. Goal 28 Slide 30 The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. What should I do? 29 Slide 31 The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an organization, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement. 30 Slide 32 The story still hasn't ended 31 Slide 33 The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better. 32 Slide 34 So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. Hi, buddy. How about doing our last race again? Great! I think we could do it much better, if we two help each other. Hi, buddy. How about doing our last race again? 33 Slide 35 They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. 34 Slide 36 There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. 35 Slide 37 On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. 36 Slide 38 The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership. 37 Slide 39 There are more lessons to be learnt from this story. Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better. 38 Slide 40 To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things: Never give up when faced with failure Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady Work to your competencies Compete against the situation, not against a rival. Pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers 39