Saturday 30 August 2008

Storm clouds gathering

It was a nice warm sunny day but Philippe, the angler, sat by the pond, looking serious.

“What's up?”, asked Gaston, the wise Duck.

“Well” replied Philippe, “we have a board meeting at the fishing club next week and I need to think about my approach. There are some issues with my colleagues on the board I need to focus on. The whole club is in dangerous waters.”

Gaston, casting his eye over the calm pond was somewhat bemused by this and asked, “why?”

Philippe grew more impatient. “Look, don't you read the papers? There will be a major global recession next year. We have to drastically cut costs, right size, re-engineer. All the KPI's need addressing. We will have to dramatically increase productivity at the same time and outsource non profit making areas. We have to implement the biggest change program the club has ever seen. And most important of all, we have to still increase our shareholder value or else our share price will drop and we will have to face a hostile takeover bid. This is very serious and we have to react immediately.”

“So, what is your strategy?” asked Gaston.

“Easy”, replied Philippe, “but I won't tell you now. I have made a comprehensive presentation, a detailed analysis of all our processes and products. Financial controlling are working overtime to prepare all kinds of figures and spreadsheets. I will be in the office on Sunday and I have asked a core team to brief me on all aspects we need to focus on. Nothing like a crises to generate extra pressure and ignite new processes! You know, that is why I have this role. I have the vision of the future and I can lead us out of this mess”.

“Well” replied Gaston, “you do that. And enjoy your day. Looks to be nice and sunny. What are you going to do today?”

Philippe looked at his in-box. “I have 138 emails to answer. All are high priority. The organization needs me. And you?”

Gaston stared deeply into Philippe's eyes. “I off to Portugal to meet a friend who is passionate about his business. He makes wine.”

Philippe grunted.

As they parted, Gaston reflected on priorities. “I wonder if Philippe is on the right path”, he thought.

Friday 29 August 2008

Just another day gone by

The fish was swimming around doing all sorts of fishy things. Suddenly, he came across an injured worm.

“What happened to you?”, asked the fish

“Well, I was told my role in life was to attract the likes of you so that the angler can meet customer requirements (his wife, I think) and so they cultivated and processed me. I think they call it a supply chain. But somehow, the process went wrong and, well, here I am.”

“Wow, you don't look too good. What can I do? “

“Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, it'll pass.”

“So, what is this supply chain thingy then?”

“You know, I don't actually know. It seems that I just appear at the right time in the right place. Almost like magic. Well, I was raised somewhere else and then transported at great distance to somewhere else. They put me in a box and shipped me somewhere else again. And the strange thing was, when the angler chose me for his step in the process, I recognised that I had only moved about 300 meters but it seems I had travelled several 1000km to get here. I mean, it was an interesting experience, I had a great time meeting others, saw strange places, you know, got around a bit. It was fun!”.

The wise duck had, by now, joined the conversation. “I know”, he quacked, “I see it all the time. There are lots of gigantic loud things moving on land. I suspect you were in one of those too. But I wonder if it can continue like this in the future? “

“Why, “ asked the fish and the worm

“Well”, replied the duck, “humans have this thing called oil and it seems to be running out and then they will have to come up with a new idea to send you worms half way around the world to process you. Oh, and everyone is saying it will get more expensive, whatever that means.”

“Why?” asked the fish and the worm, not really understanding what the duck was saying.

“Well, it could mean that they don't want your friends any more because, well, of this expensive thing. Your purpose in life will not be fulfilled” the Duck said.

“That's depressing”, replied the maggot.

“Hmm, and all those other people you met faraway, they won't have anything to do either” added the Duck, “so their purpose in life will not be fulfilled either!”

“Something has to be done about this” said the fish. “Why don't we meet tomorrow and explore any ideas?”

That night, the worm died of his injuries. When they buried him, they wrote on his tombstone
“Here lies a wealth of untapped inspiration, experience and hope and another lost opportunity. May we all open our eyes and learn from this”.

Thursday 28 August 2008

One day....

In a discussion on Wednesday, a person mentioned “my boss wants me to be professional....” It was that sentence which gave me the idea to the following little story.

A fish was swimming around in the duck pond. Suddenly it saw something glistening. Attracted, it swam closer to investigate. Above the surface he saw an angler. The fish noted that the angler was a figure of authority due to his elevated position and the tools by his side. Sensing this apparent professionalism and being motivated by it, the fish committed himself to becoming a professional fish.

“I don't want to disappoint the angler”, it thought.

The angler, naturally, had noticed the fish and wanted to catch it. Being a professional angler, he devised all kinds of processes and systems to attract the fish and lure him to his line. The fish observed this with increasing fascination and began to gain knowledge, experience and support from his network because he wanted to impress the angler.

Perplexed, the angler started to hire consultants, process engineers and the like. They introduced him to Kaizen, TQM, Six Sigma, Balanced Score Cards and many other value based programs. The angler was now being seen as the leader of the day and as his reputation gained more stature he was ceremoniously appointed Chief Executive Angler at the local fishing club. His position was so important, that his fishing line to attract that one fish had become extremely long. In fact, he no longer could see the point where it crossed into the pond. But he wasn't bothered as, so it seemed, as success appeared to be on his side.

The professional fish, too, had become successful. His influence was well established his experience, ideas, insights had helped him tremendously. He had keen powers of observation and was an active listener.

One day, passing by the now somewhat rusty hook, the fish had a flash of inspiration. It took out a piece of paper and wrote a message, fastened it on the hook, and gave the line a tug.

The angler, at the height of his career, adored by many, but equally disliked, sensed this was the glorious moment he had been striving for. He pulled up the line and saw the piece of paper. On it was the message “I know something you don't!!”

Time passed and both the angler and the professional fish retired. At their respective farewell parties, a wise duck came along. The duck took the angler to one side. “So, what did the fish have to say?”
“I don't know”, replied the Angler, “I never asked”.

Later that evening, the wise duck spoke to the fish.

“Would you have told him?”
“Probably not”, the fish replied.

Communication: fishing and eating, surviving without getting hooked.

Wednesday 27 August 2008

Busy at work

Germans always say “I have no time, I have too much to do”
The English say, “I am too busy”

Both say the same thing but it can be interpreted differently. What are the differences between doing something and being busy. Could you be doing something meaningful or are you busy wasting your time doing something meaningless?

For me, busy has a more positive connotation. A busy person might be bustling. A busy person might be doing business.

But when you ask someone, “What did you do yesterday?” how often have you heard “oh, nothing really”. Which always confuses me. Can anybody please explain to me the secret of doing “nothing”?

A few days ago, I witnessed the downside of our so busy culture. One of the projects I am involved in is assisting in a communication process in a German/Swiss/Russian Joint Venture. Some time last week a managerial meeting took place between the Head of Production and two Russian counterparts. It would have been a golden opportunity to take 30 minutes, sit down with others in the project and exchange the experience, impressions, thoughts and ideas. Vital information on the peoples side of this project and one which seriously need improving.

But the Head of Production was too busy. He had to go to another city to oversee his other responsibilities there. Another lost opportunity in quality communications.

Maybe he should have been busy doing something – as a leader, sharing his knowledge so that other people can do something with it when they are busy. Being busy doing the wrong thing can lead to disasters.

Or am I wrong?