In high school, I had a head football coach, Coach Peterson, who created a theme for each year’s team.
In 1997, that theme was Geese.
He chose this because there are lots of lessons that can be learned from geese.
As dirty and mean as they can be up close (ask Carrie sometime about the foul-mouthed goose at Nymphemburg Castle that hissed and stuck out it’s tongue at her), they still have a lot to teach us humans.
Two Sundays ago, we were at my parents’ house, helping them take down the Christmas decorations.
Sunday was a really beautiful day.
It was one of those January days that people like to call “unseasonally warm”, which is odd to me because people have been calling beautiful days like that “unseasonally warm” for as long as I can remember.
(If we get them every winter, aren’t they just part of the season’s weather? It’s not a complaint, because the day was beautiful… just an observation really.)
Anyway, all that to say that it was a good day for carrying stuff from inside to outside and enjoying the fresh air.

After the Christmas stuff was down, Adam, Laura, and I were upstairs listening to Deanna practice the audition pieces she was preparing for college auditions.
She had wrapped up one of her songs, and we were gving her some feedback. And then, Dad came running back inside from putting stuff up in the garage.
As he was headed out the back door in a hurry, all he had time to say was, “Geese! Come outside!”
It was a bit odd for anyone to be getting that excited about a few geese flying overhead.
(Geese are really a pretty common occurence around here.)
It was even more odd for Dad to be getting THAT excited about a few geese flying overhead…
We looked at each other and all sort of shrugged. But we followed him outside quickly, wondering what was going on…
Admittedly, I had the thought…”it’s a bunch of geese flying. It’s special and all, but not a bit deal. We see that all the time.”
When we got outside though, we saw what he was so excited about.
There were literally THOUSANDS of geese flying overhead. Giant V formation, after giant V formation, after giant V formation, all heading south.
I’m sure that the only reason it was not deafeningly loud from all the honking was because the geese were flying so high.
To watch these huge moving V’s stretching all the way to the horizon was like watching huge black ripples, ocean waves almost, just rippling across the sky…
It was truly an amazing sight, and one I’m likely to store in my mind for a long time.

The next morning, we had 8 inches of snow on the ground.
A great lesson from geese: Take action and prepare for what’s coming.
This week, Alex Mandossian pointed out on his blog the marketing lessons that can be learned from geese.
He linked to the video below, and I wanted to share it with you as well. It’s filled with really great life and team lessons, and was a really nice culmination of the experiences I’ve had with geese in the last 8 weeks or so.

Lessons from geese: (I found this all over the web. If anyone knows where it originates, please let me know.)

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.
Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
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.
Lesson: 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.
Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
Lesson: 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.
Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson: 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.
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.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

Alex Mandossian’s lessons:

Lesson #1: Entrepreneurs who build reliable teams, “vendor networks” and strategic alliances accelerate the growth of their businesses faster, better and with less effort. When a goose falls out of formation it feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. Every goose quickly moves back into “V” formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the other geese in front.
Lesson #2: Entrepreneurs who willingly accept feedback from their target market accelerate the growth of their business faster, better and with less effort. The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up with their speed.
Lesson #3: Entrepreneurs who “honk” at their team members and vendors with encouragement accelerate their personal productivity and business growth faster, better and with less effort. Entrepreneurs who protect their their teams can grow their businesses even during economic downswings.

What have you learned from Geese? Or from other animals?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.