The Indians and the Japanese decided to engage in a competitive boat race Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance On the big day they felt ready The Japanese won by a mile Afterward the India 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 Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the Indian team had one person rowing and eight people steering After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough were rowing on the Indian team So as race day neared again the following year the Indian 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 the Japanese won by two miles Humiliated the indian corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem

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