 |
| (Photo: Geralt/Pixabay) |
Now, I am going to be transparent. I am not fond of the bird itself. They are, in my humble opinion, a very loud, dirty bird, and annoying bird. However, I didn't really know much about murmurations until a project I am involved with recently adopted the starling and their murmurations as a way for various groups with similar missions to come together as a whole.
How do half a million to a million starlings fly together as a mass, creating a beautiful display of team cohesion?
According to this National Geographic "How do starling birds flock? - Life in the Air: Episode 3" video on YouTube video, all members of the flock must abide by three simple rules:
- As you fly, steer towards each other.
- If any of your seven neighbors turn, then you turn.
- Don't crowd each other.
Discuss the three rules starlings must follow in order to come together as a whole.
Rule 1: As you fly, steer towards each other.
- Does it matter who leads or who follows? If not, what matters?
- What is the importance of the leader in our starling example?
- What is the importance of the follower in our starling example?
- How important is it for group members to keep track of one another?
- What are you doing to ensure your team members are doing okay during the season and outside the fire season?
Rule 2: If any of your seven neighbors turn, then you turn.
- What is the purpose of knowing what your seven neighbors are doing?
- Why not know what the whole group is doing?
- Given an example of how we use this concept within the wildland fire service.
- What happens when one member of the group fails to follow the rules?
Rule 3: Don't crowd each other.
- How important is it for group members to give each other space?
- How do you maintain your individual values when they conflict with that of the team?
- Fire assignments and seasons can be long. How does your team handle the space issue?
- What happens when a member of the group gives a little too much space? What happens to crew cohesion?
 |
| (Photo: Geralt/Pixabay) |
No comments:
Post a Comment
********
The WFLDP seeks to build and support an online community in which wildland fire professionals can interact.
We invite respectful discussion; however, the realities of online culture is such that anonymous posts and posts from children under the age of 13 are not accepted.
All comments are monitored by our editorial staff for appropriateness in meeting the mission of the WFLDP prior to posting to the blog. We do not discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right not to post comments.
Individuals posting comments are fully responsible for everything that they submit.
Comments submitted after hours and on holidays/weekends will be reviewed as early as possible the next business day.
Our complete blog policy can be found at http://www.fireleadership.gov/committee/reports/Blog_Policy_Jan2010.pdf.
A yellow box will appear after you submit your comment notifying you that your comment will be reviewed.