Using Cow Behavior

There are a few books on this subject. Read them if you wish, but there's nothing like learning on your own. You need two concepts to get started. One is the concept of flight zone and the other is how to make use of it.

Think of a circle with its center centered on top of the cow's shoulders about straight in line with where the front leg attaches to the body. The radius of this circle varies, and it differs from one cow to another. Its radius relates to the cow's comfort with the proximity of a human. This circle defines what is called the flight zone. Another circle centered in the same location, but is of smaller radius. It is called the fight zone. When a man enters the flight zone the cow will likely move to adjust the circle to the point where the human is some distance away from the cow, and is usually at least as far away as the flight zone radius. The fight zone is that circle within which a man may cause a self defense response from the cow, and a dangerous situation exists. The cow is threatened to the point that it will respond with any number of possibilities, but usually is prepared to take whatever action to protect itself. The cattleman should never enter into this zone if he is at all concerned for his safety.

You can make use of this response by where you approach and enter into the flight zone. Draw a line that is normal to the cow's spine through the center of the previous circle. If you enter into the flight zone toward the hind quarters of the cow, then the cow will likely move forward. If toward the head, then the cow may back up or turn around to leave. With this behavior, the cattleman has within his grasp both the steering wheel and gas pedal to get a herd of cows to go in a direction.

The next step is crucial. Its what you do after you get 'em moving. The usual approach is to try to get them moving faster. The cowboy tries to push them, and so he moves deeper into the flight zone and approaches the fight zone. The cows are rewarded for doing the right thing with even more pressure.

This cattleman behavior comes from our high pressure society. The thought is that I've got about 15 minutes to get this done, so all the energy comes out and the cows scatter. Its faster to approach it with the actual attitude of, “I've never seen this take longer than 2 days, so I'll be here until its done.”

Once the cows are moving, the correct approach is to increase the distance from the cows. Reward them for doing the right thing by decreasing pressure. They're headed in the right direction, so give them room to pick their path and speed.

You might ask, “So you know how to move cows. How is this at all related to engineering?” The answer lies in what you weren't taught in engineering school. Communication. Engineers come out of university with a great ability to analyze and solve concrete, science based problems. We aren't taught how to communicate. The majority of fresh engineering graduates that I have observed or managed are poor communicators. Designing, building, starting up, and operating plants is mostly about communication with other people .

The next part of the learning curve for the engineer is when he/she has done a good job and selected to lead a group of engineers. Now instead of sizing pipe, selecting a reactor or determining how to control a step in a process, he is responsible for getting a group of people to accomplish those things on schedule and within budget. In addition learning how to communicate through on-the-job training, now he must learn how lead people. He graduated from being an engineer into engineering.

When I say integrating lessons learned from ranching into engineering, you should now know what I'm talking about. The lessons relate to working with a group of people to accomplish something that has value.

In the case of getting cattle to start and continue moving in the chosen direction, there is a better way. So it is with people in general and engineers specifically. The foregoing posts relate to how an engineer might approach establishing a cattle operation. Now, I'm going to get to the heart of heart of the matter.