In the Upper Midwest, a sure sign of spring and fall is when geese fly overhead, often honking loudly. I recently discovered the reason.

Turns out that professor Margaret Kuhn’s research revealed that in order to fly long distances, geese rotate their leaders, and they only pick the ones that can handle turbulence. The other birds honk, not from discomfort, but to encourage their leader.

I’ve shared lessons from animals over the years. Sometimes, they seem so much more advanced than humans; other times, we learn how not to handle problems. Here are some examples.

If a lobster is left high and dry among rocks, it does not have enough instinct and energy to work its way back to the sea, even though it may be only a few feet away. It waits for the sea to come to it and will die in its tracks.

There are also “human lobsters” in the world who are stranded on the rocks and won’t take a risk. They choose to procrastinate instead of grabbing hold of the problems they face.

Lesson: Taking risks is part of life. Not taking risks can kill a career.

Thomas J. Watson Jr., who built IBM into a worldwide power, loved to retell a story attributed to Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Each year, a man fed wild ducks at a nearby lake before they flew south for the winter. This encouraged some of the ducks to stick around and grow fat and lazy.

The moral is that you can make wild ducks tame, but you can never make tame ducks wild again. And Watson wanted to encourage “wild ducks” at IBM to confront conformity.

Lesson: Letting someone else take care of you prevents you from maximizing your potential.

If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately jump out. However, if you put a frog in room-temperature water, it will stay put. But if the water temperature gradually increases by 5 to 10 degrees, the frog continues to stay and becomes groggier and groggier until it can’t climb out of the pot. The frog will sit there and boil because its sense of survival is geared to sudden changes in its environment, not slow, gradual changes.

Lesson: Pay attention to changes in your environment or prepare to get burned.

In an experiment, four monkeys were put in a room with a bunch of bananas hanging overhead. Every time a monkey tried to climb up and grab a banana, it got drenched with cold water. Eventually, the monkeys caught on, and they quit climbing up after the fruit.

But then, the monkeys were replaced one by one. As the new monkeys tried to climb up after the bananas, the older monkeys would prevent them from climbing. In time, all the original monkeys were replaced. And amazingly, none of the newer group ever tried to climb up to the bananas, even though none of them had ever been splashed with the cold water.

Lesson: Don’t avoid new opportunities just because others have failed or you have been warned not to even try.

Ants work as a team in tackling prey, carrying food and building complex underground tunnels. They work harder than many species just to get through each day, and they do it as a team. No one gets left behind, and no one carries all the weight while others just sit on the sidelines.

Lesson: When you share the burden, you share the rewards.

Zookeepers found a kangaroo wandering outside its enclosure in the wee hours of the morning. They coaxed her back into the enclosure and added a few extra feet of fencing on top. They thought they had solved the issue until they found her wandering outside again the next night. They increased the fence to 20 feet and figured that would be too tall to leap over.

But the next morning, the kangaroo was free again. Another 10 feet of fencing went up, and the zookeepers thought their problem was solved.

A koala had watched the process and was more amused each day. “How high do you think those humans are going to build this cage?” he asked the kangaroo.

“Who knows?” said the kangaroo. “I wonder if they’ll take some of it down once they realize they keep leaving the gate unlocked.”

Lesson: Make sure you’re solving the right problem.

Mackay’s Moral: Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

We have gone from one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country's history to one of the highest in recent memory in just the past couple of months due to the pandemic. While many of these jobs will come back, sadly many others are gone for good as businesses close up shop. So, now seems like a perfect time to share some of the lessons from my book “Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You.”

I wanted to title the book “Getting a Job Is a Job,” but the publisher rejected that title since they thought people would be turned off if they had to work to get a job. But that’s exactly my point. Finding a job -- a job you really want -- is hard work. You have to get a routine and stick to it. And it can be a 10- to 12-hour-a-day proposition. Get in shape. Reconstruct your attitude. Mobilize your network. Plan your attack and get hired. How you spend your days will determine how you spend your life.

As for your attitude, remember that everyone gets rejected. You can’t take it personally. Analyze every failure, but never wallow in one. Remember your past achievements and how you felt.

Working on your network might be the best thing you can do, because two-thirds of all jobs are found through networking. Often, it’s not what you know but who you know. The big thing is to get to know them before you need them. Join every networking website you can find, like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, that can enhance your network. Webinars and virtual meet-ups are replacing trade shows and conventions and are a great way to expand your brand. Be visible. Be a resource. You need to sow your network so you will be able to sew up a job when you need it.

Just remember, countless people have torpedoed their chances by uploading career-suicide videos and party antics. Companies want to hire pros who are linked into the latest technology, not junkies who are hooked on it.

The average person today will make 12 to 15 different job changes and five to seven career changes. Many desirable jobs today didn’t exist 10 years ago, so think outside the box about jobs that could exist in a few short years. The world of work will look vastly different with the “new normal” that we are facing as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.

If you need to retool your job skills, now is the time to start switching gears. Think about how your current responsibilities would fit into a different pathway. Consider a total career change drawing on a hobby or volunteer experience. Your abilities are adaptable to other opportunities, so be creative.

Rehearse job interviews in the privacy of your own home using your smartphone. Invite members of your personal “kitchen cabinet” to pose tough questions and to critique your performance. Check out my Mackay 44 to help you prepare for interviews and the Mackay 22 to debrief yourself after every job interview. Both are available on my website, harveymackayacademy.com under Resources.

Never lie on your resume, but always remember a resume's purpose is to get you an interview and resume work. Few things explode more easily than an overly inflated resume. Use industry-accepted terms to describe what you do. If you try to make yourself seem too special, firms won't know what to make of you.

On resumes and in interviews, point to specifics in your achievements -- the more measurable, the better. If you're a manager, showcase the people you've developed in your career and where they are today.

Respect your references. Recruiters check out these resources more thoroughly than ever before. Make sure your praise-singers know in advance that you're listing them and how appreciative you are of their help. Firms will also contact people who aren't your supporters.

Dress like a mess and you won’t see success. Even if your interview is virtual, resist the urge to dress professionally only from the waist up.

You may not be interviewing for a sales job, but you have to be a great salesperson to sell yourself. Competition is fierce, but you need to be fierce also.

Mackay's Moral: It bears repeating, getting a job is a job.

There are only three pure colors -- red, blue and yellow -- but look at what Michelangelo did with those three colors. There are only seven notes, but look at what Chopin, Beethoven and Vivaldi did with those seven notes. President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contained fewer than 275 words, and most of them had one syllable. Think of the impact those simple, direct words have had on our society. There are only 10 numerals, but look at what Bernie Madoff did with them. Never mind ... that was way too creative.

My point is that creativity is very basic, incredibly necessary and all too rare in business.

The American Marketing Association did a study several years back, asking 500 CEOs and company presidents: What do you have to do to survive the next five years? A whopping 81% said creativity and vision. Now get this: Of the 500 surveyed, 81% of them said that their company was not doing a good job at it.

When I speak publicly, my first lesson is always creativity. I feel it is that important. There is no correlation between IQ and creativity. Every single person reading this column can become much more creative than they ever imagined.

Statistics indicate that between the ages of 5 and 17, there is an extreme decline in a person’s creativity level. And as we age, our creativity drops even more. Don’t let it. Get rid of that “we-are-not-creative” attitude.

As Dr. Seuss said: “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think if only you try!”

I love to study creative companies. My theory is that they have what it takes to be successful because their customers appreciate the thought that goes into their products and services. Wouldn’t these creative signs for businesses attract your attention?

A tire shop in Milwaukee advertises: “Invite us to your next blowout.”

A towing company claims: “We don’t charge an arm and a leg. We want your tows.”

At a car dealership: “The best way to get back on your feet: miss a car payment.”

Outside a muffler shop: “No appointment necessary. We’ll hear you coming.”

On a plumber’s truck: “We repair what your husband fixed.”

Print shop sign: “Price, quality, delivery ... pick two out of three.”

At an optometrist’s office: “If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.”

On a maternity room door: “Push ... Push ... Push.”

In a veterinarian’s waiting room: “Be back in 5 minutes. SIT!!! STAY!!!”

In a podiatrist’s office: “Time wounds all heels.”

At an electric company: “We would be de-lighted if you pay your bill on time. However, if you don’t, you will be.”

On a taxidermist’s window: “We really know our stuff.”

Let me tell you about one of the most creative people I’ve ever met. On a trip to New York, I was shocked to get into a shiny, clean cab, with a stereo playing beautiful music. The smartly dressed driver handed me a laminated card and said: “Hi, I’m Wally, your driver." On the card was his mission statement. A mission statement! It said he was going to get me to my destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible, in a friendly environment.

As we pulled away, he asked me if I was hungry. As I recall, he had an apple, banana and a Snickers candy bar. Then he asked if I would like to read something, and he had that day’s editions of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today laid out on the seat.

A short while later, he asked me if I had a favorite kind of music I would like to listen to -- symphony, Broadway, rock and so on. As if that weren’t enough, Wally asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

By now, I was going crazy. I asked Wally how long he had been doing this, and he said a couple years. I asked him where he learned to do all this, and he said he heard it on TV from a self-improvement guru.

It was none of my business, but I had to ask Wally how much extra he gets in tips each year because of all his efforts. He said $20,000 to $25,000.

Trust me, creativity like that is priceless!

Mackay’s Moral: If necessity is the mother of invention, creativity is the fairy godmother.