Since its inception in 1978, SYSPRO has delivered world-class ERP solutions to over 14,000 companies in more than 60 countries worldwide. Another remarkable statistic: SYSPRO enjoys a 98% client retention rate. We asked Joey Benadretti, President and Joint Managing Director, SYSPRO USA, “What accounts for this remarkable success?”

He said that a good part of this success can be attributed to the culture of teamwork and cooperation adopted by the company’s founders. He pointed us to the “Lessons from Geese,” circulated in an old SYSPRO sales manual, that lays down the fundamentals of working together.

Fascinated by the conduct of flying geese, Dr. Robert McNeish, drew a series of lessons that have endured as the classic statement of SYSPRO’s teamwork and leadership.

FACT: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the flock can travel seventy-one percent further than each bird flying alone.

LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another. Likewise, by stressing a common message of their product’s advantages, the SYSPRO team can move forward, elevate, and gain momentum.

FACT: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into 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 dependent on each other’s skills, capabilities, talents, and resources. Working together as a team, SYSPRO is unstoppable.

FACT: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON: We need to keep honking SYSPRO’s successes and stand by core values, as encouragement for all team members.

FACT: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to 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.

The moral here is simply: To lead is to participate, and to participate is to take advantage of all available resources. Commensurately, SYSPRO must share and leverage the strengths that make it unstoppable. United we win; divided we fall. # # # ###

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