Of geese and people
03/03/15 05:20
There have been dozens of scholarly (and a few less scholarly) works that use the formation of migrating geese in flight as a metaphor for how humans should work together. Back in the 1930’s before the outbreak of World War II, the flying geese paradigm was proposed as a model for Southeast Asian development. The proposal by Japanese scholars proposed that Japan would lead the way as other nations fell behind, but operated closely in terms of economic and industrial development, creating an economic force that would both assist less industrialized nations to join the “first” world and maximize the advancement of the economies of all participating nations. The idea was reinforced and revived in the 1960’s when an article in the Journal of Developing Economies proposed the flying geese paradigm as a model for developing countries in other parts of the world.
I’ve heard many different people speak of flying geese as a lesson in teamwork that humans should imitate.
While geese do fly in large v formations when making long migrations, anyone who has been around areas where geese linger for a while has also seen about every other formation imaginable. The joke I heard was, “Why do geese fly in a V?” “Because it is easier to make than an S.” But I’ve seen geese flying in modified s formation as well as random formation and v with one side longer than the other and a strange line with multiple birds serving as leader.
The use of the patterns of geese in migration for human teamwork are based in elements of truth. Yes, geese do gain some economy by flying in formation. There is a slight reduction in drag produced by flying a little behind and slightly above another bird. And geese do share leadership, with different birds flying at the head of the v at different times. It is not true, however, that the effort of flying alone makes the trip impossible for a solo bird. There are documented cases of lone geese making the migration when they have become separated from the flock.
Commentators or human motivation speakers who equate the behavior of geese with human logic however, are pushing things a bit far. Geese aren’t engaging in strategic thinking or planning the most efficient ways to fly. The formations formed by geese are the results of a long period of evolution and deeply ingrained instinct. Len Wilson, in a fairly recent blog on the topic wrote, “Sometimes people playing on teams will drop out of the group and try to accomplish goals on their own. However, like the geese, they usually discover that they miss the synergy and energy that comes when they are an active part of a cohesive team moving toward their destination, and want to return to the group.”
What?
Geese discover they miss synergy? Probably not.
I’m fairly certain, given the differences in brain size alone, that human thought processes are significantly different than geese.
It is true that an entire group following a leader can sometimes meet with disaster. After the Berkeley Pit in Montana was abandoned as a mine, it began to fill with water. A flock of migrating snow geese saw the water in the pit and dropped down for a landing. 342 carcasses were recovered from the water. At first, ARCO, the mind owners, claimed that the geese died from having ingested grain fungus earlier in the day, but Montana State lab tests showed the birds were filled with sores from exposure to high concentrations of copper, cadmium, and arsenic. I’m no biologist and certainly no expert on the exact cause of the death of the birds, but whether they ate tainted grain or drank tainted water, it is clear that the entire flock met the same fate.
I’ve never heard a motivational speaker refer to the snow geese in the Berkeley pit as an example of how humans should cooperate.
One writer I read also noted the honking that accompanies a flock of migrating geese. The speaker speculated that it was constant communication between the geese, encouraging slower birds to keep up with the others and giving information on the locations of other birds to keep the flock moving together toward their common destination.
I’ve heard geese in flight. It seems to work for the geese, but I wouldn’t suggest that it is a good example for humans. Everyone making similar noises at maximum volume at the same time, not waiting for another to finish before chiming in may work for geese, but for humans it doesn’t enhance communication. It is frequently the case with humans that those who are quiet and listening have the most knowledge of what is going on.
I’m sure that there are all kinds of lessons that we can learn from our animal and bird neighbors, but there are also challenges that we face that are uniquely human which require the best of our creative thinking rather than imitation of patterns of the way things have been done in the past. Technological innovation is not the product of doing the way things have been done for generation upon generation. It comes from trying something new, that has not been tried before.
It doesn’t seem likely that I’m going to become a motivational speaker anytime soon. Unlike those folks, I am drawn to speaking to the same group of people over and over, developing long-term relationships and discovering the expertise of the community rather than taking on the role of the visiting expert who is off to another audience tomorrow night.
However, if I were to be such a speaker, I think I’d see if I could develop a “walking turkey paradigm.” We have plenty of turkeys in our back yard to observe. Sure they have very tiny heads and very big bodies. There isn’t a lot of brain in those birds at all. And sure, they are very inefficient in their movements and actions. And sure, they will look for food in places where there is none over an over again. And sure, they are consumed with showy displays that accomplish nothing. Still, they provide a bit of entertainment for those of us who watch them.
And I’m thinking the flying geese paradigm is overused and perhaps the timing is right for the walking turkey paradigm. Then, of course, no one has actually asked me to give a motivational speech - they seem to like the guys who talk about geese.
I’ve heard many different people speak of flying geese as a lesson in teamwork that humans should imitate.
While geese do fly in large v formations when making long migrations, anyone who has been around areas where geese linger for a while has also seen about every other formation imaginable. The joke I heard was, “Why do geese fly in a V?” “Because it is easier to make than an S.” But I’ve seen geese flying in modified s formation as well as random formation and v with one side longer than the other and a strange line with multiple birds serving as leader.
The use of the patterns of geese in migration for human teamwork are based in elements of truth. Yes, geese do gain some economy by flying in formation. There is a slight reduction in drag produced by flying a little behind and slightly above another bird. And geese do share leadership, with different birds flying at the head of the v at different times. It is not true, however, that the effort of flying alone makes the trip impossible for a solo bird. There are documented cases of lone geese making the migration when they have become separated from the flock.
Commentators or human motivation speakers who equate the behavior of geese with human logic however, are pushing things a bit far. Geese aren’t engaging in strategic thinking or planning the most efficient ways to fly. The formations formed by geese are the results of a long period of evolution and deeply ingrained instinct. Len Wilson, in a fairly recent blog on the topic wrote, “Sometimes people playing on teams will drop out of the group and try to accomplish goals on their own. However, like the geese, they usually discover that they miss the synergy and energy that comes when they are an active part of a cohesive team moving toward their destination, and want to return to the group.”
What?
Geese discover they miss synergy? Probably not.
I’m fairly certain, given the differences in brain size alone, that human thought processes are significantly different than geese.
It is true that an entire group following a leader can sometimes meet with disaster. After the Berkeley Pit in Montana was abandoned as a mine, it began to fill with water. A flock of migrating snow geese saw the water in the pit and dropped down for a landing. 342 carcasses were recovered from the water. At first, ARCO, the mind owners, claimed that the geese died from having ingested grain fungus earlier in the day, but Montana State lab tests showed the birds were filled with sores from exposure to high concentrations of copper, cadmium, and arsenic. I’m no biologist and certainly no expert on the exact cause of the death of the birds, but whether they ate tainted grain or drank tainted water, it is clear that the entire flock met the same fate.
I’ve never heard a motivational speaker refer to the snow geese in the Berkeley pit as an example of how humans should cooperate.
One writer I read also noted the honking that accompanies a flock of migrating geese. The speaker speculated that it was constant communication between the geese, encouraging slower birds to keep up with the others and giving information on the locations of other birds to keep the flock moving together toward their common destination.
I’ve heard geese in flight. It seems to work for the geese, but I wouldn’t suggest that it is a good example for humans. Everyone making similar noises at maximum volume at the same time, not waiting for another to finish before chiming in may work for geese, but for humans it doesn’t enhance communication. It is frequently the case with humans that those who are quiet and listening have the most knowledge of what is going on.
I’m sure that there are all kinds of lessons that we can learn from our animal and bird neighbors, but there are also challenges that we face that are uniquely human which require the best of our creative thinking rather than imitation of patterns of the way things have been done in the past. Technological innovation is not the product of doing the way things have been done for generation upon generation. It comes from trying something new, that has not been tried before.
It doesn’t seem likely that I’m going to become a motivational speaker anytime soon. Unlike those folks, I am drawn to speaking to the same group of people over and over, developing long-term relationships and discovering the expertise of the community rather than taking on the role of the visiting expert who is off to another audience tomorrow night.
However, if I were to be such a speaker, I think I’d see if I could develop a “walking turkey paradigm.” We have plenty of turkeys in our back yard to observe. Sure they have very tiny heads and very big bodies. There isn’t a lot of brain in those birds at all. And sure, they are very inefficient in their movements and actions. And sure, they will look for food in places where there is none over an over again. And sure, they are consumed with showy displays that accomplish nothing. Still, they provide a bit of entertainment for those of us who watch them.
And I’m thinking the flying geese paradigm is overused and perhaps the timing is right for the walking turkey paradigm. Then, of course, no one has actually asked me to give a motivational speech - they seem to like the guys who talk about geese.