Humor 11/15/98: American Management

Hey,

Hope you had a great weekend. I heard a really good speaker named Wayne
Fong this weekend at the Missions conference at CCAC in the Valley. If
any of you are helping to organize the conference at your church, I
would highly recommend inviting Wayne as a speaker.

I'm really looking forward to the new Star Trek movie, opening on
December 11th. Any of you in the LA area want to see it on opening
day? Let's get a group to go.

This week's humor was forwarded to me by Jennifer Chin. The
motivational message come from Anna Man. Enjoy!

Take care and I hope to respond to some of your personal emails after my
last midterm this week.

-Josh.
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American Management

The Americans 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 American 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 recommend corrective action.

The consultant's finding: The Japanese team had eight people rowing and
one person steering; the American 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 American team. So as race
day neared again the following year, the American 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
American corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave
the mangers a bonus for discovering the problem.

_____________________________________________________


In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson,
CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's
other commitments:

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls
in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit -
and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand
that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are made
of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed,
marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.
You must understand that and strive for balance in your life." How?

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is
because we are different that each of us is special. Don't set your
goals
by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them
as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or
for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL
the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really
over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this
fragile thread that binds us to each together.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that
we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time.
The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose
love
is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it
wings.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've
been,
but also where you are going.

Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can
always carry easily.

Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is
not
a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. Yesterday is
History, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift: that's why we call
it "The Present."


--
_____________________________________

Joshua Li
431 S. Burnside Ave. #12 B
Los Angeles CA 90036
(323)936-8476
Permanent Email: joshli@post.harvard.edu
http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/joshua.li/