THINKING INSIDE THE BOX

I found this on the internet. I have no idea who wrote it, but I wanted to make sure both of my readers saw it. It is titled A MODERN PARABLE.

A Japanese auto company, Toyota and an American auto company, Ford decided to have a canoe race on Lake Erie. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for such a crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior executives was formed to look into the matter and recommend appropriate action. After months of investigation their conclusion was the Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering, while the American team had eight people steering and one person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, the American management hired a distinguished consulting firm and paid it a large amount of money for a second opinion. The consultants, of course, advised that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the American team's management structure was totally reorganized to four steering supervisors, three area steering superintendents, one assistant superintendent steering manager and one person rowing.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the rower a greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners, free pens and a certificate of completion for the rower. There was much spirited discussion regarding new paddles, a redesigned canoe and extra vacation days and bonuses for practices sessions.

The next year the Japanese won by twice as much.

Humiliated, American management laid off the rower (a reduction in workforce) for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses, and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

Epilog:

Ford has spent the last thirty years moving its factories out of the U.S., claiming it can't make money paying American wages.

Toyota has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the U.S .

The last quarter's results: Toyota made 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

I think the Ford folks ought to have another investigative meeting or two.

The California Curmudgeon