The Japanese and the Koreans decided to engage in a competitive boat race. Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance.
On the day of the big match, the Japanese team won by a mile. The Korean 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 hundred of thousands spent analyzing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough were rowing on the Korean team.
So as race day neared again the following year, the Korean management team's 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.
That second match, the Japanese won by two miles this time. Humiliated, the Korean corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.
Sounds familar, isn't it?
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