The Goose Story
I heard this on the radio, immediately called the station, and was told it came from a tape by Michael Gerber, the E Myth guru. Then I ordered his tape, but couldn't find this section anywhere. So I called his office and a very nice lady named Andrea Cameron in his marketing department, told me she knew what I was referring to, but Michael hadn't taped it. She had just found it on the internet and as we spoke she was taping it to her desk. Andrea was kind enough to fax it to me twice - the first time, I was out of paper.
I thought you would enjoy the tale.
Next
fall, when
you see Geese
heading South for
the winter, flying along
in V formation, you might
consider what science has dis-
covered as to why they fly that way:
as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an
uplift for the bird immediately following. By
flying in V formation, the whole flock adds at least
71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
When
a goose falls
out of formation,
it suddenly feels the drag
and resistance of trying to go it alone
and quickly gets back into formation to take
advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.
When
the Head Goose
gets tired, it rotates back
in the wing and another goose flies point.
Geese
honk from behind to
encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Finally,
and this is important,
when a goose gets sick or is
wounded by gunshots and falls out
of formation, two other geese fall out with that
goose and follow it down to lend help and protection.
They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly, or until
it dies. Only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.
© 2022 Molly-Ann Leikin