Musings from a shepherd Archives

June 29, 2020

How much is that doggie in the….?

In June 2020 the world record was broken for the price paid for a working sheepdog at auction – £19,451.00! Many shepherds would clearly not be […]

June 15, 2020

Are ewe establishing ‘new normal’ systems?

I will never forget the first time I sheared a sheep. I knew what to do and even so, it took me 45 minutes to do. […]

November 29, 2017

Can unpredictability make ewe stronger?

I’ve always been fascinated at the reasons for people doing the jobs they do. Some of us pursue childhood dreams, but others follow a winding path […]

November 10, 2017

No pulling the wool over the sheep’s eyes

One of this week’s news headlines was “sheep have shown they can recognise familiar human faces” as a result of a Cambridge University study. So I’ve […]

October 16, 2017

What can ewe learn from bad-mannered sheep?

How are your manners? Do you wait in a queue or push to the front? Eat with your mouth open or closed? Do you help the […]

February 17, 2017

Making no mistakes? You’ve counted too many sheep

Ahead of a recent conversation with one of our earliest clients at IKEA, I read ‘The Testament of a Furniture Dealer’ from their website. A fascinating […]

January 10, 2016

Herding sheep or electing a new leader – is there common ground?

Boris or Jeremy – how should the choice be made? Emotionally, logically or purely on appearance? Will the same mistake be made as when people come […]

January 9, 2016

Do sheep have the answer to Brexit?

Sheep live most of the time in harmony. There is little argument, with only small jostles between individuals and ultimately they all look out for each […]

March 12, 2015

Top Gear. Top Dog?

If you had a person like Jeremy Clarkson in your business, how would you handle him? Let’s switch to the shepherding world – imagine that you […]

September 15, 2014

It's all about marginal gains (and we're not talking Scotland here)

On Friday the Tour of GB cyclists whizzed through our neighbourhood and we took time out to shoot them flying past. It was a first for […]

August 27, 2014

Will your next recruit be a robot?

Today’s article on the BBC News website “Two simple rules explain sheepdog behaviour” stopped and made us think. Could you imagine a robot doing the job of […]

July 15, 2014

How Do You Drive Your Customers?

Drove roads are wide green tracks in the countryside, and have provided the traditional system of moving flocks of sheep around between fields, for centuries. They were […]

May 29, 2014

How many languages do ewe speak?

At a business networking meeting the other day we were discussing what sounds are made by animals in other languages. Yes really! What led us to […]

March 18, 2014

Learning from your Flock ….

A flock of sheep range in age and wisdom. Different groups exhibit different learnt habits in direction correlation to their specific learning experience. The elders might […]

January 14, 2014

Do ewe make your own decisions?

Quite often, those who religiously follow the crowd – in fashion for example – regardless of whether something suits them or not, are often referred […]

December 23, 2013

A Y-ewe-ltide Thought

Different flocks of sheep will mingle and will graze together unless they are put under stress – an unexpected intruder in their field perhaps – in […]