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I don't know where it originated, but I've seen this around the office
lately. It made me chuckle; it made me sigh.
-----
A Grim Fairy Tale
-----------------
Once upon a time, an American automobile company and a Japanese auto
company decided to have a competitive boat race on the Detroit River.
Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance. On
the big day, they were as ready as they could be.
The Japanese team won by a mile.
Afterwards, the American team became discouraged by the loss and their
moral sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the
crushing defeat had to be found. A Continuous Measurable Improvement
Team of "Executives" was set up to investigate the problem and to
recommend appropriate corrective action.
Their conclusion: The problem was that the Japanese team had 8 people
rowing and 1 person steering, whereas the American team had 1 person
rowing and 8 people steering. The American Corporate Steering Committee
immediately hired a consulting firm to do a study on the management
structure.
After some time and billions of dollars, the consulting firm concluded
that "too many people were steering and not enough rowing." To prevent
losing to the Japanese again next year, the management structure was
changed to "4 Steering Managers, 3 Area Steering Managers, and 1 Staff
Steering Manager" and a new performance system for the person rowing the
boat to give more incentive to work harder and become a six sigma
performer. "We must give him empowerment and enrichment." That ought
to do it.
The next year the Japanese team won by two miles.
The American Corporation laid off the rower for poor performance, sold
all of the paddles, cancelled all capital investments for new equipment,
halted development of a new canoe, awarded high performance awards to
the consulting firm, and distributed the money saved as bonuses to the
senior executives.
---- -- - - - - - - - - <gabe@angus.mi.org>
(From the "Rest" of RHF)
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