Impact Today™
Friday, August 1, 2008
The troublesome foursome
A minister, doctor, and consultant were playing golf one day and had the misfortune of playing behind a very slow foursome. The consultant inquired, "What's with these people? We've been waiting more than 30 minutes! This is ridiculous." The doctor quickly agreed, "They're hopeless, I've never seen such a lack of consideration."
Just then the minister spotted one of the ground crew approaching. He called him over to complain about the group.
The ground crew member told the trio the slow foursome was a group of former firefighters that had been blinded when putting out an inferno in the clubhouse. The course’s owner lets them play whenever they want.
With this new information the minister committed to pray for the sightless foursome.
“That’s nice,” added the doctor. “I know an optometrist that might be able to help them. I’ll call him tomorrow morning and see what he can do.”
Meanwhile, the consultant wondered why the former firemen couldn’t play at night.
Life Lesson: different people look at things differently.
A minister, doctor, and consultant were playing golf one day and had the misfortune of playing behind a very slow foursome. The consultant inquired, "What's with these people? We've been waiting more than 30 minutes! This is ridiculous." The doctor quickly agreed, "They're hopeless, I've never seen such a lack of consideration."Just then the minister spotted one of the ground crew approaching. He called him over to complain about the group.
The ground crew member told the trio the slow foursome was a group of former firefighters that had been blinded when putting out an inferno in the clubhouse. The course’s owner lets them play whenever they want.
With this new information the minister committed to pray for the sightless foursome.
“That’s nice,” added the doctor. “I know an optometrist that might be able to help them. I’ll call him tomorrow morning and see what he can do.”
Meanwhile, the consultant wondered why the former firemen couldn’t play at night.
Life Lesson: different people look at things differently.
Labels: Anecdote, Diversity, Problem_Solving
¶ 8/01/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, May 26, 2008
The hard to hold kangaroo
The zookeepers seemed helpless as each day as they entered the zoo to find the kangaroo had once again escaped his enclosure. Despite the zoo’s tight budget, they decided they need to make the enclosure’s fence taller, extending it to ten feet tall.
Certain this had solved the problem, they were shocked the next day to find the kangaroo hopping down one of the zoo’s walkways.
“Let’s double the fence,” they said, adding another ten feet to the fence.
Yet sure enough, the kangaroo was waiting for them near the front gate when the zookeepers reported for work.
They returned the kangaroo to his home and began discussing how much higher to make the fence. The kangaroo thought to himself how silly they were. After all, the kangaroo knew all they needed to do was lock the enclosure’s door at night.
Life Lesson: Sometimes we decide on a solution without understanding the problem.
The zookeepers seemed helpless as each day as they entered the zoo to find the kangaroo had once again escaped his enclosure. Despite the zoo’s tight budget, they decided they need to make the enclosure’s fence taller, extending it to ten feet tall.Certain this had solved the problem, they were shocked the next day to find the kangaroo hopping down one of the zoo’s walkways.
“Let’s double the fence,” they said, adding another ten feet to the fence.
Yet sure enough, the kangaroo was waiting for them near the front gate when the zookeepers reported for work.
They returned the kangaroo to his home and began discussing how much higher to make the fence. The kangaroo thought to himself how silly they were. After all, the kangaroo knew all they needed to do was lock the enclosure’s door at night.
Life Lesson: Sometimes we decide on a solution without understanding the problem.
Labels: Anecdote, Problem_Solving
¶ 5/26/2008 1 Comments Links to this post
Monday, May 19, 2008
Lip prints for a kiss-up
Nancy had worked very hard throughout her career. Whenever there was an opportunity to with those ranked higher than her, she took it. She signed up for teams and committees whenever she knew the group had someone that had input in who would be promoted. She maintained a pleasant attitude throughout the day, but really turned it on when a supervisor was nearby. It was her belief that by maximizing her productivity and visibility she would be in line for the next higher job.
Her peers did not see it the same way, accusing her of being a kiss-up. Things really got out of hand when she got her last promotion.
To show their opinion that Nancy was a kiss-up they began to kiss the mirror in the ladies’ room, leaving lip prints for all to see.
One day another high-ranking female in the company visited Nancy’s department when nature called. Upon returning to Nancy’s office she asked Nancy why all the lip prints were on the mirrors.
Nancy could take no more.
She called all the women into the ladies’ room for a meeting to stop the lip prints once and for all.
To read what she did, click here.
Life Lesson: Problem solving takes creativity.
Nancy had worked very hard throughout her career. Whenever there was an opportunity to with those ranked higher than her, she took it. She signed up for teams and committees whenever she knew the group had someone that had input in who would be promoted. She maintained a pleasant attitude throughout the day, but really turned it on when a supervisor was nearby. It was her belief that by maximizing her productivity and visibility she would be in line for the next higher job.Her peers did not see it the same way, accusing her of being a kiss-up. Things really got out of hand when she got her last promotion.
To show their opinion that Nancy was a kiss-up they began to kiss the mirror in the ladies’ room, leaving lip prints for all to see.
One day another high-ranking female in the company visited Nancy’s department when nature called. Upon returning to Nancy’s office she asked Nancy why all the lip prints were on the mirrors.
Nancy could take no more.
She called all the women into the ladies’ room for a meeting to stop the lip prints once and for all.
To read what she did, click here.
Life Lesson: Problem solving takes creativity.
Labels: Anecdote, Leadership, Problem_Solving
¶ 5/19/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The hunters
When it comes to sales figures, profit margins, turnover, or any other business barometer, do not be complacent about being average. Although average is better than below average, it is not success – as these hunters prove:
Three statisticians were hunting in the woods. One of them pointed to a plump pheasant in a tree. All three aimed their rifles. The first fired, missing the bird by a couple of inches to the left. Immediately the second fired, missing a couple of inches to the right. The third immediately put down his gun exclaiming, “Great shooting, on average I reckon we got it.”
Life Lesson: Average doesn’t put dinner on the table.
When it comes to sales figures, profit margins, turnover, or any other business barometer, do not be complacent about being average. Although average is better than below average, it is not success – as these hunters prove:Three statisticians were hunting in the woods. One of them pointed to a plump pheasant in a tree. All three aimed their rifles. The first fired, missing the bird by a couple of inches to the left. Immediately the second fired, missing a couple of inches to the right. The third immediately put down his gun exclaiming, “Great shooting, on average I reckon we got it.”
Life Lesson: Average doesn’t put dinner on the table.
Labels: Anecdote, Problem_Solving
¶ 5/08/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Who says our role doesn’t control decisions?
Life Lesson: Diversity offers an array of ideas
There has been a lot of talk about the need for diversity in the problem solving process. Some argue only experts from the functional area where a decision is required should be part of the decision making team. Others say involve different disciplines to get to the right answer. If you aren’t sure which group is correct, consider this story:
Three people are in a car traveling down a steep mountain road. Suddenly the breaks fail. The driver, seeing a sharp curve over a deep chasm ahead, frantically tries to stop the vehicle. He spies a spot to the side where an opening in the guard rail allows access to a small meadow surrounded by bails of hay. He manages to pull into the area while his passengers breathe a sigh of relief.
The three people, all engineers of one sort or another, exit the vehicle and begin to access their situation.
“Hmm,” says the mechanical engineer, “It looks like a brake line was leaking - let's repair the split, bleed the brakes, and we should be able to get on our way.”
The systems engineer thinks for a while and says, “Maybe we need to contact the manufacturer and the dealer to confirm exactly what the problem is”
The software engineer slowly climbs into the driver's seat and, gesturing for the others to join him, says, “How about if we close all the windows and try again?”
There has been a lot of talk about the need for diversity in the problem solving process. Some argue only experts from the functional area where a decision is required should be part of the decision making team. Others say involve different disciplines to get to the right answer. If you aren’t sure which group is correct, consider this story:Three people are in a car traveling down a steep mountain road. Suddenly the breaks fail. The driver, seeing a sharp curve over a deep chasm ahead, frantically tries to stop the vehicle. He spies a spot to the side where an opening in the guard rail allows access to a small meadow surrounded by bails of hay. He manages to pull into the area while his passengers breathe a sigh of relief.
The three people, all engineers of one sort or another, exit the vehicle and begin to access their situation.
“Hmm,” says the mechanical engineer, “It looks like a brake line was leaking - let's repair the split, bleed the brakes, and we should be able to get on our way.”
The systems engineer thinks for a while and says, “Maybe we need to contact the manufacturer and the dealer to confirm exactly what the problem is”
The software engineer slowly climbs into the driver's seat and, gesturing for the others to join him, says, “How about if we close all the windows and try again?”
Labels: Anecdote, Decision_Making, Problem_Solving, Story
¶ 3/27/2008 0 Comments Links to this post
