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Change management

Posted by Claudia Moser on 7:58 AM in ,
Have you heard the story of the consultant and the fisherman?

A prominent consultant, with an MBA from Harvard, was standing on the pier of a small coastal village when a small fishing boat docked. Inside the boat were several large yellow fin tuna a lone fisherman had caught. The consultant complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The consultant asked, "Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

"It's enough to support my family. I’m happy."

The consultant asked, "What do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children and take siesta with my wife, Maria. Every evening I stroll into the village, sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life, sir."

The consultant scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. You could catch more fish and buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the city, where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman fisherman asked, "But, sir, how long will this all take?"

"15 to 20 years."

"But what then, sir?"

The consultant laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would launch an IPO and sell your company's stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions, sir? Then what?"

The consultant said, "Then you could retire and move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, and every evening stroll to the village where you could sip wine and play guitar with your friends."

Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment.

P.S. This entry is dedicated to this weekly theme, Change, under The Writers' Post

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17 Comments


Astute...and amusing all at the same time! Thanks, Claudia for this posting...Hugs~


Another thoughtful one :-)


I laughed out loud at this. The caption grabbed my attention because it was such a HUGE deal when I worked in the corporate world.
Very amusing.


Isn't that crazy?? Why would anyone stop enjoying life to work their butt off so they could wait 20 years to do the same thing again?? Great post. Sometimes, change is not a good thing! Great post!

Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/


LOVE!!! We've done nothing but change management around here for two years!!!


@Sush - happy to 'see' you here again! I hope your husband is better.
@Sarah - glad :)
@Rick - amusing and also very sad
@Kathy - happy you liked it!
@La Reine - change management ain't that easy!


**chuckles** Oh this just made my day--and illustrates a perfect point I was trying to make to someone the other day. At any rate--he he he--who needs Change Management?

Cheers, Jenn.


Interesting twist.

Joyce
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2011/09/writers-post-painted-leaf.html


OH...This was good!!! I'm grinning like my IQ is only 20... LOL... Good one!


I love this story, Claudia. It highlights what is really important in this life so well.


@Jenn - well you actually do need change management but one with a bit of thinking behind :)
@Joyce - well, such is life :)
@Darlene - glad I made you smile!
@Belle - so true!


I heard the same version of this story, except that it was set in the heart of the African bush (Kenya, I think). It absolutely makes one wonder why we, the West/developed world chase after accummulating money and possessions, power and recognition, for such a great part of our lives...in order to be able to enjoy hard won freedoms at the end of our lives. This fisherman had, what I think to be the best approach to life. Unfortunately, our own societies put so much value on a competitive, materialistic approach that we often lose sight of what it really meaningful. It once again serves as a glaring reminder to us that money cannot buy happiness.


@Desiree - you are so right with your conclusion! I couldn't have said it better!


Very clever, Claudia. Nice take on the subject matter and I always appreciate the chance to have a good laugh.


@Dapgne - thank you :) and happy you did laugh!


I LOVE this story, isn't it the truth! Thanks for this post, I needed to hear the message today.


@Langley - glad to hear it :)

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