• Geese fly in a V-shaped formation because it allows them to advance more easily. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front, benefiting from the air lift produced by the bird ahead, thereby reducing wind resistance. Birds that fly in formation beat their wings less frequently and glide more often thus reducing energy expenditure by 71% when compared to birds that fly alone.
• Geese that separate themselves from the group soon discover how much more difficult it is to fly alone and immediately return to the group.
• When the leader (the one that goes at the head of the formation and takes the greatest risk) is tired, it moves back and another bird takes the lead.
• Flying in formation also makes it easy to keep track of every bird in the group and assists with communication and coordination within the group. Geese produce noises from the back both to encourage the ones at the front and to maintain their speed during flight.
• When a bird is sick or is hurt and falls, two other geese go with it and keep it company, to provide help and protection. The companions stay with the sick or injured bird until it recovers or dies.
DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Leaders School, February 17, 2012
1. Unless they have lost their instinctive sense of purpose and direction, wild geese know where they are headed and what they want to achieve. In view of our essential purpose and charism, how does this description of the “teamwork” of geese in flight resonate as you reflect on the type of teamwork that we have or need to have in the Cursillos in Christianity Movement?
2. What attitudes and behavior do you see both in team preparation and during the three-day weekend that impede the sort of “teamwork” needed to achieve the God given purpose of Cursillos?
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