Management Stories # 28 - What is Life for?

This post shall mark the end of the Management Stories topic - at least for this month's course of posts. So, a final, memorable story for all Managers to sit back and understand what is life all about, and what are we running after in life.

A corporate executive on holiday in a small Greek seacoast village was strolling by the docks and drinking in the local color. He complimented one fisherman on the quality of his catch.

“How long did it take you to get all those fish?” he wondered.

“Not very long,” answered the Greek. “An hour or two.”

“Then why didn’t you stay out longer to catch more?”

Shrugging, the Greek explained that his catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a nap with my wife. In the evening, I go to the village to see my friends, dance a little, play the bouzouki, and sing songs. I have a full life.”

The executive said, “I have an MBA from a Premier university. I can help you. You should start by fishing longer every day. You’ll catch extra fish that you can sell. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second boat and a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can ship fish to markets all around the world. In time, you can then move to New York City to direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Greek.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the executive.

“And after that?”

“When your business gets really big, you can sell stock and make millions!” exclaimed the executive with zeal.

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a small village near the coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take a nap with your wife, and spend your evenings singing, dancing, and playing the bouzouki with your friends.”

Trust this gives an idea of how to set your vision in life, and how to move forward to achieve it.

Management Stories # 27 - Lead a positive transformation

In 1982, a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin were conducting a study of the adult-learning process.

They videotaped two bowling teams during several games.The members of each team then studied their efforts on video to improve their skills.

But the two videos had been edited differently.

One team received a video showing only its mistakes; the other team’s video, by contrast, showed only the good performances.

After studying the videos, both teams improved their game, but the team that studied its successes improved its score twice as much as the one that studied its mistakes.

Evidently, focusing on the errors can generate feelings of fatigue, blame, and resistance.

Emphasizing what works well and discussing how to get more out of those strengths taps into creativity, passion, and the desire to succeed.

This sets an outstanding example of how to lead a positive transformation.

Management Stories # 26 - Be careful when you pass comments

A balloonist, who was set to travel in a particular direction, realized that he was lost. He then decided to drop down to ask directions and found a young lady around.

“Excuse me, but I am a little off course” he shouted. “I promised to meet a friend an hour ago, I don’t know where I am.”

The woman hollered back: “You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are at exactly 40 degrees, 22 minutes, and 21 seconds North latitude and 70 degrees, 30 minutes, and 33 seconds West longitude.”

“Amazing,” the balloonist replied. “You must be an engineer!”

“I am,” she replied, “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I can’t use your information. Am still lost and you have not been much help at all. If anything, you have delayed my trip.”

The woman thought for a moment, then replied: “You must be in management.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you do not know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to your position due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems.”

“In fact,” she said, “you are in exactly the same position you were before we met, but somehow it is now my fault.”

The balloonist felt so ashamed that he let off all the hot air, and left the balloon in the same place, and ran off home.

So the next time you pass comments on people below you, please bear in mind that you could actually be getting it back sometime soon. If any, pass comments as issue-based and do not make anything personal.

Issue-based firing is always tolerable, but certainly not individual-centric or bad personal comments. Learn to treat people with minimum respect and retain your own dignity.