A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won by a mile.
The American team became very discouraged and morally depressed. The American management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found. A “Measurement Team,” made up of senior management was formed. They would investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was that the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the Americans had 1 person rowing and 8 people steering.
So American management hired a consulting company and paid them incredible amounts of money. They advised that too many people were steering the boat and not enough people were rowing. To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the “Rowing Team Quality First Program,” with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower: “We must give the rower empowerment and enrichment through this quality program.”
The next year the Japanese won by 2 miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. Then they gave a High Performance Award to the steering managers and distributed the money saved as bonuses to the senior executives.
I came across this picture of a model home PC created in 1954 as envisioned to be fifty years in the future. The caption reads:
Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a “home computer” could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use.
I just can’t imagine what the fancy steering wheel was used for 
Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, one of the most influential economists of the last century, died Thursday, at the age of 94. His wife Rose Friedman, who co-authored many of his books, survives him.
Friedman was awarded the Nobel prize in 1976. He has long championed the cause of political and economic freedom and the links between the two. He has originated, or been associated with, many breakthroughs in economics since the 1950s. He is best known for explaining the role of the money supply in economic and inflation fluctuations.
I remember reading about him and his works, watching him on television and heard him speak at a presentation in New York City in the 80’s. I admired him and his intellect. The world economy is better because of his thoughts.
Three of the biggest retailers have found that eliminating or de-emphasizing Christmas may have hurt sales. You may remember last year when they were very Grinch-like and removed any reference to Christmas from advertising and stores. Employees were barred from exclaiming “Merry Christmas” and had to substitute “Happy Holidays” instead.
But, sales were weaker at these stores. Therefore, the three have major campaigns to label seasonal merchandise as “Christmas” and not “Holiday”. Merry Christmas to Macy’s. Kohl’s and Wal-Mart. May your sales increase for acknowledging centuries of tradition.
