Originally Posted By TomSawyer From some management seminar I attended: The Americans and the Japanese decided to engage in a boat race. Both teams practiced hard, but the Japanese won by a mile. The American team was discouraged by the loss, and morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the defeat had to be found; so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and recommend corrective action. The consultants finding: The Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the American team had one person rowing and eight people steering. After a year of study and millions spent to analyze the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough were rowing on the American team. As the next race day neared, the American teams management structure was completely reorganized. The new structure: four steering managers, three area steering managers, and a new performance review system for the person rowing the boat to provide better work incentives. In that race, the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American Corporation laid off the rower for his poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.
Originally Posted By u k fan Or, you could work for a firm like mine with lots of rowers, but no one steering and when they eventually do they're more bothered by small ripples than the waterfall just ahead!!!
