Americans vs. English
An American company and an English company decided to engage in a
competitive boat race. Both teams practised hard and long to reach
their peak performance. On the big day they both felt ready.
The English won by a mile.
Afterward, the American team was discouraged by the loss. Morale
sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing
defeat had to be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate
the problem and recommended corrective action.
The consultant's found that the English team had eight people rowing
and one person steering, while the American team had one person rowing and
eight people steering. After a half a year of study and millions spent
analysing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many
people were steering and not enough were rowing on the American team.
As race day neared again, the following year, the American team's
management structure was completely reorganised.
The new structure: a steering director, three departmental steering managers, three
steering sub-managers, and a new performance review system for the
person rowing the boat to provide work incentive.
That year, the English won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American corporation fired the rower for poor
performance and gave the managers a 25% bonus for discovering the
problem.