Cows and Organizations Don't Talk

The title says it.  Few will argue that cows talk in a language intelligible to man.  They do communicate.  It takes a little time to learn the language.  I had a cow that lifted up her head every time I climbed on her side of the fence.  It made no difference if I was 50 feet away or 500.

That is one piece of information that you better not ignore.  If you have never seen this and your cows do it, then I suggest that you get out of the cattle business.  I say this because one day a sow is going to catch you in your unaware state and charge you and maybe try to grind your atoms into the dirt.  It shows more than concern that you are in her flight zone or approaching her fight zone.  She's certainly communicating that concern, but she is also sizing you up and watching for you to present an easy target.

When cows moo when you are trying to move them in a corral system, then more often than not they are stressed about it.  You'll see cows mounting and riding one another.  Calves will do it, too.  Packers (factory butchers) have instituted a no moo rule.  They strive to move cattle toward slaughter without stressing them.

For his own safety and for efficiency, its incumbent upon the cowboy to learn what his cattle are saying.  It becomes a body language reading exercise.

Organizations also don't speak in any intelligible language.  Yes, all individuals in the organization do speak an intelligible language, but the organization does not.  The higher the level you rise in management will mean that you must become better at reading and interpreting the language that it does speak.  If there's a lot of activity that reminds you of a bunch cows or calves mounting and riding one another, then you better wake up to the fact that the organization is under stress and will not perform anywhere their peak ability.  You ight even have an unsafe situation developing.  If you ignore the signs, then something bad will happen.  Just accept the fact that you (or your boss) are pushing too hard.

Another way to think about it is from the analog of tracking animals or people.  The best way to learn to track is to watch the tracks being made.  After you've learned to associate the certain patterns with certain activities then you will know what the animal was up to when you couldn't watch the tracks being made.

Organizations also leave tracks.  It may be in the form of safety statistics.  It might be employee concerns.  It maybe a significant number of missed milestones or it may be over budget.  The tracks maybe read in your own mood or mood changes.

Look around you.  What is your organization telling you?  What kind of tracks are they leaving?  What's the cause?  And how are you going to fix it and prevent it from happening again?