"The Michigan Dilemma"
An Analogy Using A Canoe Race

A Japanese company (Toyota ) and an American company
(General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the
Missouri River . 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 Americans, very discouraged and depressed,
decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat.
A management team made up of senior management
was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate
action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people
rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team
had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management
hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount
of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course,
that too many people were steering the boat, while not
enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to
prevent another loss to the Japanese, 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. There was discussion of getting new
paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation
days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by TWO 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. The money saved was
distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the
next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

The End


Isn't this reminiscent to our Government policies???


“As The Pendulum Swings”


The sick repeat of Viet Nam war policies by our incompetent administration makes me Ill.
One must learn, and trust the fact, that our military is the greatest in the world, bar none.
There are many factors our military is so great and one factor in particular, I think, is that we have seasoned leaders at the top levels of military strategy planning and decision making. If ever given the chance to construct strategies and decisions were applied forth with concerning the war in Iraq the United States of America top Military Brass would most defiantly have given us different results today.
Given that the Generals’, Admirals’, colonels’ Lieutenants, Sergeants the enlisted men and women, and every person in between are the best from training to executing orders, one would think that if one were to decide, in favor of, invading a country a world away, that one might possibly trust the experts to accomplish such a undertaking, as opposed to, relying on ones own experiences as, oh, I don’t know, let’s just entertain the idea of, and I know I’m grasping here, an overseen daddy’s boy failed mission attempt in the Army Air National Guard, to run a WAR from the confines of a cushy office.
Any Idiot can throw a dart at a spinning globe and tell the modern American Military “go get ‘em” and given the proper support mechanisms, will indeed, “Go Get ‘Em”.
I say, “put down your pride helmet Mr. President and let our military get their selves out of the quagmire where have sabotaged and submerged them here”.
I don’t know, I’m just sayin!
Peace!
Kyle…