The rowing contest

Some time ago a German company arranged an annual rowing contest with a japanese company, which would be held with eights on the Rhine.

Both teams trained long and hard to reach their maximum. When the grand day had come, both teams were in top condition, but the Japanese won by a whole kilometre.

After this defeat the German team was very unhappy and moral was at a low. So management decided that the reason for such an utter defeat had to be found at any rate. A project team was created to investigate the problem and to suggest ways to remedy it. After a long investigation it was discovered that only one man rowed and seven were steersmen.

Management immediately hired a consulting company to make a study about the structure of the German team. After a few months and extensive payments the consultants concluded that too many people steered and too few rowed. To prevent another defeat against the Japanese the team structure was changed. Now there were four steersmen, two head steersmen, one steering director and one oarsman. Additionally a performance rating system was introduced for the oarsman to goad him on. "We have to widen his field of duty and give him more responsibility."

The following year the Japanese won by a two kilometre margin.

So management fired the oarsman for bad performance, sold the oars and stopped any further investments into a new boat. The consulting company was praised for a job well done and the saved money was paid to upper management.

Sounds oddly familiar in a sickening way, doesn't it?