ONCE UPON A TIME

[A cautionary tale of quality provided by Dr. Myron Tribus--
original source unknown]

     Once upon a time an American steel company and a Japanese
company decided to have a competitive boat race on the
Monongahela river. Both teams practiced hard and long to reach
peak performance. On the big day both felt as ready as they could
be.

     The Japanese won by a mile!

     The American team became very discouraged by the loss, and
morale sagged noticeably. Corporate management decided that the
reason for the crushing defeat had to be found. A continuous
"Measurable Improvement Team" was set up to investigate the
problem and recommend appropriate corrective action. Their
conclusion was as follows:

     The problem was that the Japanese team had eight people
rowing and one person steering, whereas the American team had one
person rowing and eight people steering. The American corporate
steering committee immediately hired a consulting firm to do a
study on the management structure After some time and millions of
dollars later, the consulting firm eventually concluded that "too
many people were steering and not enough rowing".

     To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year the team
management structure was totally reorganized to four steering
managers, three area managers and one staff steering manager and
a new performance system for the person rowing the boat to give
more incentive to work harder. "We must give him empowerment and
enrichment; that ought to do it."

     The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

     Humiliated, the American Corporation laid off the rower for
poor performance, sold all the paddles, cancelled all capital
investments for new equipment, halted the development of a new
canoe, gave a "high performance" award to the consulting firm,
and distributed the money saved as bonuses to the senior manage-
ment executives.