About The Goose Story

I first came across the The Goose Story when it was read to me during one of the many personal growth seminars I have taken part in. It gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes.

In my early training with Coach University, one of the exercises we were exposed to was an exploration of needs, values, standards and boundaries. As we worked with these concepts in CU's excellent Personal Foundationª program, we were encouraged to examine our values to come up with a list of ten core values, from which we were to identify a key value -- that value which, when expressed fully in our lives, really encompassed all of the others. Quite an assignment!

Kindness, lifelong learning, fun, balance, ease, inspirational modeling, self-awareness, loyalty, clear communication, honesty, ongoing accomplishment, spirituality, preeminence through excellence, creative self-expression, and empathy were part of a long list of values that vied for a place on my core values list, and it seemed difficult, at first, to come up with one value that encompassed them all.

The whole point of Coaching is to develop a framework where it becomes possible to live a life one loves, and it is not possible to live that kind of life when one out of integrity with one's values. The intention of the assignment was to come up with a principle around which to organize our lives and our goals, with the key value a very quick test whenever we wondered whether a particular activity was on purpose with the lives we were developing.

As I worked with myself and explored my values, it suddenly became crystal clear to me that my key value was one of profound relating. As I examined all of the things in my life that really expressed the part of myself I love best and am proudest of, the element of profound relating was a part of every one of them. It has always been a difficult concept to put into words in a way that others could fully understand what I meant by the term. I think The Goose Story comes close to explaining it for me.

The Goose Story articulates the principles upon which I founded The Optimal Functioning Institute, and you'll hear us affectionately refer to ourselves as "geese." Every student at OFI receives a copy and is encouraged to use it as a guide through the year they spend with us.

I would like for you to have a copy as well.

The Goose Story

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.

People who share a common direction and sense of community
can get where they are going more quickly and easily
because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

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.

If we have as much sense as a goose,
we will stay in formation
with those who are headed the same way we are.

When
the Head Goose
gets tired, it rotates back
in the wing and another goose flies point.

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs
with people or with geese flying South.

Geese
honk from behind to
encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What do we say when we honk from behind?

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.

IF WE HAVE THE SENSE OF A GOOSE,
WE WILL STAND BY EACH OTHER
LIKE THAT.

by Dr. Harry Clarke Noyes
ARCS NEWS, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1992