Just Speed Up The Boat

"Join in the new game that's sweeping the country. It's called Bureaucracy! Everybody stands in a circle. The first person to do anything loses." - Javier Pascal Salcedo

"In any bureaucracy, paperwork increases as you spend more and more time reporting on the less and less you are doing" (reference)

Story Line: Just speed up the boat
 

As with many stories in Friday Reflections, this one happened Once Upon a Time.

The boss of a rather large global group had flown in from another state and summoned his local team to discuss a project the team had initiated that had shown great results in their department.

The boss went through standard customary motions as happens in many meetings, and after showing a lot of interest in the project told the three team members in attendance, “Your work is revolutionary and you have gotten great results in your environment. But now there is a similar initiative by a very large support group that they call Company Wide Excellence. They have not been able to show progress with many more resources, and you guys are making them look bad.”

The boss continued, “It is time you let go of your project to them and concentrate on other work.” 

The newest employee in the group, who coincidentally was also in his first job after graduation, told the boss, “We can work with them to explore scaling our work to speed up Company Wide Excellence”

The boss, a little annoyed at naïvete of the young man said, “You don’t understand. You guys are like a speed boat going against a super tanker. They can crush you. Do you understand what I am saying?”

The young man, not being savvy in understanding the hidden message said “Yes, we understand. All that we have to do is speed up so the super tanker can never catch us.”

Sequel: That young man, after delivering great results to his employer, left and is now owner of a  successful business. And those Corporate Wide Excellence folks? After creating a massive bureaucracy which was dissolved a few years later, they are retired or working at other places.

Comments

[Bear]

Did this really happen in a corpration? I am happy being a park ranger. Nothing like this happens around here.

[In search of...]

I thought you recently said "On a circle end of one cycle is a beginning of next." So every loss is the beginning of another cycle of loss. When there is Bureaucracy this is true.

[Rest Assured]

I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughtnut. I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".'” Story by Mitch Hedberg in your reference link of quotes

[Oregonian]

I think you do not sleep 
Thank you for this impactive work of passion.

[California Guy]

@Bear - Unfortunately, this really does happen in big companies. As a wise man once told me, seemingly non-sensical events do become understood once you take into consideration the ego of each person involved at the higher levels.

@In search of... - I agree. I like to believe that Nature has a way of restoring balance through the many life cycle variations (and end for every beginning and a beginning for every end). Sometimes, we just have to have the stamina to work through the low points.

[Comments received in direct emails to author]

1. Welcome to our government, all campaigning, no accomplishments

2. I am very interested in photography and want to improve my ability to make “story telling” pictures. I would like to make photographic contributions to the Friday reflections if you could use it.
If I could get a heads-up on a upcoming story that needs pictures, I can attempt to create an image to go with the story. I am still learning my photography skills but would love such a challenge to work on my spare time outside of work.
Please let me know if there is an opportunity.
Thanks for sharing.

3. The person who made the comment below to your article might be surprised if he knew what corporation it occurred at. Do you think the “boss” will recognize himself and the event if he reads the article?