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The corporate boat race

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

morale 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.

 

 

 

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