Air Canada and West Jet decided to engage in a dragon boat race. Both
teams
practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance. On the big day
they
felt ready. West Jet won by a mile. Afterward, the Air Canada team was
discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged.
Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had
to
be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and
recommended corrective action.
The consultant''s finding:
The West Jet team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the
Air
Canada team had one person rowing and eight people steering.
After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the
consultant firm (Proudfoot) concluded that too many people were steering
and not enough were rowing on the Air Canada team.
So as race day neared the following year, the Air Canada team''s
management
structure was completely reorganized. The new structure:
Four steering managers, three area steering managers and a new
performance
review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work
incentive.
The next year West Jet won by two miles. Humiliated, Air Canada laid off
the
rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for
discovering the problem.
teams
practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance. On the big day
they
felt ready. West Jet won by a mile. Afterward, the Air Canada team was
discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged.
Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had
to
be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and
recommended corrective action.
The consultant''s finding:
The West Jet team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the
Air
Canada team had one person rowing and eight people steering.
After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the
consultant firm (Proudfoot) concluded that too many people were steering
and not enough were rowing on the Air Canada team.
So as race day neared the following year, the Air Canada team''s
management
structure was completely reorganized. The new structure:
Four steering managers, three area steering managers and a new
performance
review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work
incentive.
The next year West Jet won by two miles. Humiliated, Air Canada laid off
the
rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for
discovering the problem.
