From the President From the desk of Russ Berry, ISFA 2011-2012 President
Lessons from the Geese For all of you who are familiar with geese and
the business management lessons they teach,
I offer a reminder. And for those of you who are
unfamiliar with the “geese teachings,” I relish the opportunity to introduce them.
“Lessons from the Geese” was written in 1972
by Dr. Robert McNeish of Baltimore. Dr. McNeish
was a science teacher before he became involved in school administration in the Baltimore public
schools. Interestingly, he also taught in his local church as a lay minister. He was apparently
intrigued by a flyer he picked up near where
he went to observe the geese on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland. From his observations and using the facts contained in the flyer, he wrote
“Lessons from the Geese” for a lay sermon he
delivered in Northminster Presbyterian Church
in Reisterstown, Md., in 1972. In 1987, a nurse called him and got his permission to print
“Lessons” on small cards to hand out at the
National Nurses Convention. And in 1990, U.S. Representative Dutch Ruppersberg called Dr.
McNeish to obtain permission to read it at his
inauguration! Enough of the history … here are five great lessons: Unison Fact: 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 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 others. Return Fact: 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 8 • Vol. 5 / Issue 2 • International Surface Fabricators Association
want to go. We should be willing to accept their help and give out help to others. Share Fact: 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 and resources.
Encourage Fact: The geese flying in formation honk to
encourage those up front to keep up their speed. Lesson: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is
encouragement, the production is 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. Help Fact: 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 had as much sense as geese, we
will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
Every ISFA member needs to be in unison as a
fabricator, return to the group when we deviate,
share the common purpose we have, encourage
more to do. The website is constantly improving and the magazine still contains the best surface fabricator media in print. ISFA is gathering around the country giving fabricators a chance to draw together and network. Education is evolving to become a great resource for business leaders as well as fabrication. So truly we are ISFA NOW. I share with you a thought from the current corporate and cultural prophet of our day: “… you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. …” — Steve Jobs This year I have had many conversations with fabricators all over the world; from China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and of course the United States. I found myself looking back and have heard so many comments about the past that I am compelled to tell you all that business tomorrow could care less about where we were 10 years ago or even yesterday. The “good old days” don’t increase your revenue, or more importantly, your profit. Trust that you can be valuable in the marketplace and go talk to your customers. Find out what they value and be the provider of the services they desire! My hope for every fabricator is that we can find a way to develop our industry so that the next generation has the opportunity to continue to furnish and install premium decorative surfaces. Enjoy the content of the magazine, reach out to other fabricators and realize that every single one of us doing a little bit everyday to grow the industry means that we have thousands of people working together to generate interest in what we do. Together we have a global voice that can tell the world about the great services and products we provide.
each other when we can and help to the best of our ability.
We have successfully navigated another year
and worked to move the organization to financial stability and to be refocused on the needs
of the members. We have focused on three
tasks: to PROMOTE, CONNECT and CERTIFY
fabricators. The work has just begun and there is
Russ Berry, ISFA President RussBerry@asst.com