Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 23, 2013

16

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, February 23, 2013 

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


CAUTION:

By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA

Lessons From The Geese 

Teamwork & Leadership Lessons from Nature

Tablets At Work

(NAPS)—Entertaining as they are, tablet computers 
and smartphones are not all fun and games.

Consider this: With 75 percent of all workers involved 
in jobs that require mobility, handheld devices 
are playing an increasing role in business. In 
fact, according to The Mac Observer, 94 percent 
of Fortune 500 companies were either testing or 
deploying iPads for business use, while Forrester 
Research recently reported that 81 percent of 
companies have plans for tablet use and predicts 
250 million tablets will be in employees’ hands by 
2016.

In addition to e-mail and Internet access, workers 
use tablets for specialized apps or for remote 
uses such as sales support and customer presentations. 
Across industries, executives are using 
them for management dashboards and project 
management apps.

Health

Health care offices are passing out tablets so patients 
can complete medical histories online. 
Hospitals use them for electronic record keeping, 
paperless prescriptions, diagnostic reports and 
teaching tools. EMTs and fire departments use 
tablets for real-time data to reduce risk, improve 
safety and support information sharing between 
agencies.

Education

Tablet use in education is also booming. According 
to one recent survey, 26 percent of teachers 
have access to tablet computers and 55 percent of 
administrators and 47 percent of principals have 
tablet access. Some school districts let students 
bring their own tablets to support classroom 
learning and bring textbooks to life.

Construction and Utilities

Field staff and utility workers such as repair technicians 
use tablets for appointment information 
and access to diagrams and repair manuals.

Keeping Business As Usual—

Every Day, Everywhere

With all these tablets going to work, companies 
are scrambling for technology that protects their 
investments. iPads don’t do water. Nor do they do 
dirt, snow or shock. Whether out at a construction 
site with dust, shock and weather to contend 
with or in a classroom where accidental drops 
and sticky fingers can wreak havoc, businesses 
want their employees to be able to conduct “business 
as usual” without worrying about their investment 
going down the drain. 

Though there are ruggedized protective cases 
that allow tablets to withstand some calamities, 
they can be bulky and limit access to key tablet 
functions.

Now there’s an option to protect on-the-go workhorse 
tablets no matter where they are or what 
they are doing. Sleekly designed to add only a 
fraction of an inch to an Apple iPad, the LifeProof 
nüüd case protects against water, dirt, snow 
and shock—while maintaining access to all tablet 
functions. It gets its name from its unique design, 
which protects the tablet without covering up the 
screen. 

Optional accessories include shoulder and hand 
straps, a floating LifeJacket and a cover that also 
functions as an adjustable stand for watching 
movies or typing. The company also has a line of 
protective cases for smartphones.

Learn More

For more information, visit www.lifeproof.com 
or call (888) 533-0735.

Workers need to be able to depend on electronic 
devices no matter where they are or what they’re 
doing, so a rugged case for smartphones and 
iPads can be a smart investment.

 


(adapted from a 2009 article written by Sue 
Widemark)

 Nature provides us with a bounty of lessons 
that can be applied to business. Simple, yet 
profound, the following presentation about 
migrating geese provides some poignant insight 
into what it takes to work together successfully as 
a team. This analogy includes five facts relating 
to geese in-flight, with lessons that we can apply 
to our personal and professional lives.

Fact 1: As each goose flap its wings it creates an 
“uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a 
“V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater 
range than if each bird flew alone.

 Lesson: People who share a common sense of 
direction and community can get where they are 
going quicker and easier because they are traveling 
on the thrust of one another.

Fact 2: 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 want to go. We are willing to accept their 
help and give our help to others.

Fact 3: 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 
skill, capabilities and unique arrangement of 
gifts, talents or resources.

Fact 4: 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 productivity is much 
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.

Fact 5: 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 until it 
dies or can fly again. Then they launch out with 
another formation or catch up with the flock.

 Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we 
will stand by each other in difficult times as well as 
when we are strong.

This rendition of “Lessons from Geese” was 
transcribed from a speech given by Angeles 
Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development 
Network, which has been broadly touted as being 
based on the work of Milton Olson. However, 
in a 2009 article written by Sue Widemark, she 
learned that the original version was written in 
1972 by science teacher, Dr. Robert McNeish for 
a sermon he delivered in his church. Widemark 
discovered this information while conducting 
additional research that resulted in a personal 
conversation with the daughter of Milton Olson.


FIVE TEAMWORK STRATEGIES TO 
PREVAIL OVER ANY CHALLENGE

(StatePoint) An extraordinary level of teamwork, cooperation, 
trust, planning and execution can equal your survival and triumph 
in the face of perilous conditions.

No clearer were these principles tested than when the crew of the 
AFR Midnight Rambler, facing hurricane-force winds and monstrous 
waves, piloted their tiny vessel through the storm to win the 
Sydney Hobart Race, known as the “Everest of ocean racing.”

A new book, “Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the 
Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race,” co-authored by Dennis 
N.T. Perkins and Jillian B. Murphy, and published by AMACOM 
Books, chronicles the crew’s nearly four-day ordeal, shedding 
light on critical strategies for teamwork at the edge, and drawing 
parallels to the world of business through case studies.

“Whether your competition is better equipped than you matters 
far less than having the right attitude and teammates,” says Perkins. 
“Teamwork is a powerful thing.”

The year was 1998. While bigger, better-equipped boats attempted 
to maneuver around the deadly storm, Ed Psaltis, skipper of the 
Midnight Rambler, made the daring decision to head directly into 
its path. In a race in which six sailors perished, Perkins attributes 
the crew’s success to the power of teamwork.

Perkins is offering the same five strategies the crew used on the 
water to survive and win, to those seeking success in the business 
world:

• Make the team the rock star: Business teams that aspire to excellence 
may not have the same physical challenges as ocean racing 
crews, but lofty goals require sacrifice, dedication, and ability to 
persevere. Select teammates with the right levels of confidence and 
motivation and a commitment to putting team unity first.

• Remove all excuses for failure: Preparing in advance is crucial, but 
so is continuing to prepare while navigating through crises. “Successful 
teams master the art of bifocal vision,” Perkins attests. “They 
have the ability to focus on current challenges, while at the same 
time preparing for longer-term threats and opportunities.” 

• Find and focus on the winning scenario: Whether winning means 
being the first in your field to achieve a breakthrough result or coming 
in under budget, a team needs a clear, shared understanding of 
its goals.

• Build a gung-ho culture of learning and innovation: Everyone, 
regardless of rank, should have a right to speak up. The ability to 
talk honestly about what works, what doesn’t work and what might 
work is critical to effective teamwork.

• Be willing to sail into the storm: Test your limits before challenges 
come your way to learn what hits you can sustain as a team. “Only 
by taking small risks will teams be able to assess their ability to take 
on big ones -- and to sail into the storm when need be,” says Perkins.

More insights about effective teamwork and leadership can be 
found at www.SyncreticsGroup.com.

The business world can be fraught with adversity and formidable 
competition. But whether you’re leading the team or part of one, 
take cues from those that have prevailed over the hardest-hitting 
challenges to help you build a culture of success.