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
consultant’s 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 team’s 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 work incentive.
In
that race, the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated,
the American Corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the
managers a bonus for discovering the problem.
