Team Building Is Not Just For The Birds

An unusual piece of research published in the journal ‘Current Biology’ has revealed important insights into the nature of group work.

Dr Dora Biro and colleagues from the University of Oxford studied the flight paths and direction   finding of homing pigeons using the latest GPS tracking systems.

Amazingly, the Oxford team found that the birds adopted similar team building techniques to those taught on many postgraduate courses (including this one).

Pigeons (like many birds that flock together for the purposes of   safety and navigation) must decide on the best   route to their destination based on many possible alternatives.

The research showed that single birds faithfully   reverted to a habitual   route which was hard-wired into their memories. When flying   in pairs, however, this route was challenged by the emergence   of a credible   alternative.

Faced with the possibility of conflict three strategies were employed in order    to decide   the best   route   to take. Each possibility weighed the difference in distance between an innate memorised route and the conflicted route.

The first option   involved each side compromising and   choosing the least worst option if the differences between both routes was small. This involved accepting a ‘group decision’. 

The alternative involved ‘compliance’ that is   bowing to another’s   leadership and following that route. Finally, when a conflict could not be avoided the pair decided to split and   make their own way home following different routes.

The scientists used a mathematical model called the ‘many wrongs hypothesis’ to test their belief that pairs of pigeons were better able to   negotiate the best route home. They found that for Pigeons, as for humans, leaders must demonstrate superior knowledge if they are to be followed.