Canada Geese and Dodos: Which One Does Your Team Resemble?
Dr. David Rafeedie
For many years our family lived and worked in Canada. Every fall, like clockwork, flocks of Canada geese would head south, honking all the way. When I heard that sound, I knew winter was not that far behind — winter for us humans, that is. The geese had enough sense to head to warmer climes. Their honking doesn’t sound attractive, but they look sharp flying in formation.
And they have an instinct for teamwork that is built-in. When the leader gets tired, he falls back, and the next goose moves up to take the lead. That is team synergy! Every team member knows its part, and they do it with excellence. How do I know they do it with excellence—they always reach their destination. They fly together, they stop for the night together, they eat together, and they leave together. And they can all lead.
Canada geese lay 2-9 eggs at a time, ensuring they will continue to survive. And they guard their goslings well. Do not come between an adult goose and their goslings, or you will have the whole gaggle after you (You have to love those names). Each breeding pair produces about six goslings a year. Canada geese are thriving!
Then there are Raphus cucullatus, better known as the Dodo bird. We know enough about the Dodo to know why they became extinct. (Some argue they are making a comeback in the halls of government—I will let you decide that one for yourself).
Here is what we know about the Dodo. Well, here is what I know about the Dodo. They were a large flightless bird that had no natural predators on their island. When Dutch sailors arrived on Mauritius, they used the Dodo for food, clubbing them to death. For some reason, the Dodo never developed a fear of humans even though they were killing them in great numbers (Hmmm, maybe it is the voter that is the Dodo—ok, enough is enough). And, apparently, certain animals that were on the Dutch ships, like rats, developed a taste for Dodo eggs. That is a problem because Dodo’s only laid one egg at a time. That may have made life easy for female dodo’s, but it is not a good recipe to avoid extinction when they were being used for food in such large numbers.
These two birds are a contrast in success and failure. And there are some good lessons for teams in the contrast. Hold on; I am about to stretch the metaphor of Canada geese versus Dodos to the limit (some will say way beyond the limit).
Performing[1] teams adjust when their environment changes
Canada geese adjusted to their environment. When winter comes, they fly south. The Dodo, on the other hand, was landlocked because they were flightless. When their environment changed with the arrival of humans, they did not adjust, perhaps could not due to their limitations, to the new circumstances.
Performing teams see and account for the barriers to success
The Dodo didn’t understand the dangers around them. They never developed a fear of those Dutch sailors who were feasting on them. Canada geese are aware of their surroundings and will move when a person approaches. They will either fly away or move to water. A performing team understands their environment and adjusts to any changes that take place.
Performing teams have a synergy that allows them to move faster and farther than the competition
Synergy is the goal of a performing team. Our teamwork should be like an instinct unless it shouldn’t be. What I mean by that is our teamwork should be instinctual because we know our team members so well, and we know our destination, and we move as one to get there, like the Canada geese. Instinct is a fixed pattern of behavior; in the case of a team, it is repeated behavior that becomes synergy. Of course, a team or team member should always be prepared to change behavior or direction should an environment or their circumstances change.
I would have no idea if the Dodo worked or even flocked together. My not knowing is just a minor hiccup in my contrast.
Performing teams are intentional by design
The lead Canada goose always knows when it is time to move to the back because it is tired. He knows his limits. If it were to continue to lead when it was running out of energy, the whole flock would be negatively impacted.
The Dodo, on the other hand, never figured out they should get out of the way of the club in the Dutch sailor's hand.
Performing teams build a culture of success
Imagine with me the formation Canada geese fly in as the culture of the flock. The flock of geese flies in an inverted V formation. They don’t fly in a square or a circle; they fly in an inverted V because it is the most efficient and effective formation to fly long distances. The geese, of course, do this instinctively. Performing teams build a culture of efficiency and effectiveness.
No comment on the Dodo.
Performing teams are committed to professional development and mentoring their team members
In a flock of geese, the individual goose is ready to move up and take the lead. If you want to keep your team healthy and viable, keep building up the individual team members.
We don’t know how Dodos moved around. But we do know they aren’t moving anymore.
Performing teams are constantly coming up with new ideas
Imagine the egg-laying capacity of the birds as idea generation. Like Canada geese, lay a lot of eggs. Lay as many eggs as possible. Some will hatch and grow and be successful. Others won’t but that is ok. Generating bad ideas along with the good ideas, shows you are generating ideas!
Don’t be a dodo, and come up with few ideas. If that one egg doesn’t come to fruition, you are stuck in maintenance mode.
Ok, I didn’t just stretch the metaphor, I broke it into little pieces. So sue me. Just kidding, don’t sue me. But take the lessons from the Canada geese and the dodos and make use of them.
I can help you and your team move to become more like Canada geese and avoid being like the dodos. As a coach and Harrison Solutions Consultant, I can help you and your team identify strengths and soft spots. You will be able to overcome the internal and external barriers that mitigate success for you and your team. Set up an appointment to talk at https://calendly.com/david-rafeedie, or text or call me on 520-709-1860. If you text me, I will respond quickly.
If you want to read more about similar topics or other issues, see my website. Check it out at www.davidthecoach.com.
[1] Check out this article to see what a performing team is and how how to develop one. https://davidthecoach.com/blog/2018/1/18/team-building-moving-your-team-to-maximum-effectiveness