A Modern Parable
Posted by Tom Remington on July 8, 2008
Thanks to Martha! I have no idea where this originated.
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. 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 the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.
They advised, of course, 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 rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners, and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower 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.
Sadly, The End.
Here’s something else to think about:
Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can’t make money paying American wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter’s results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads.
IF THIS WEREN’T TRUE, IT MIGHT BE FUNNY.
Posted by Tom Remington
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I agree - this would be pretty dang funny if it didn’t hit so close to truth.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I heard the same could be said for Japanese blogs and American blogs.
I don’t think it could be confirmed though because not many Japanese read American hunting blogs so they are pretty much only supported by American readers, American consumers, and advertisers trying to sell things to Americans who must work in America if they are to have any money to spend on all those things.
Even if there were more Japanese hunting blogs trying to attract Japanese enthusiats and Japanese advertisers to sell Japanese products to their Japanese customers, from your Japanese and American comparison, I would guess the Japanese blog writer would be smart enough to not be to critical of a smart aleck insulting his customer base.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Hey “Jack”, where’s the lost ark? Or did the ghosts scare you away? Looking for feed in Japan? Or did your labyrinthine mind just get distracted somewhere in the far cornors?
I really don’t get your reasoning, except that last sentence, and for a fact, there is a fine line between smart alecks and witty thinking…usually just enought wisdom thrown in makes the difference…Mark Twain was a fine line in the depth of the water..and he sure knew how much water it took to float the boat!
The Japanese, on the other hand, have a huge start over American factories…not only are they more unified in their efforts, but their government subsidizes and works hand in hand with most of the larger businesses..Of course this government does some of the same, but much more so in Japan, they are in the same boat together…and both paddle in the same direction.
The only problem is, is that Americans appreciate their freedom and individualism much more than the Japanese and other nations that have grown accustomed to being crowded like insects in a hive… Over here, we appreciate the freedom and the room to stretch our wings of freedom and imagination…and not always in the direction of the greatest good for the greatest number..
Maybe that’s why we have always been called the “sleeping giant”….giants need room to stretch! And giants never seem to get up and do what has to be done, until the need becomes a necessity!
July 9th, 2008 at 8:27 am