 |
Harvey Mackay
Column
For the week
of July 5, 2010
|
|
|
|
Help Each Other
Out
Down on the farm, a mouse peeked
through a crack in the wall and saw the farmer's wife open a
small package. Thinking at first it might be a tasty treat, the
mouse grew very concerned when he realized that it was a mousetrap!
The mouse immediately took to
the farmyard to warn all the other animals, "There's a mousetrap
in the house!" The response he got was not encouraging.
The hen clucked, raised her
head and said, "It's not my problem! Mousetraps are of no
concern to me."
The pig was no more helpful. "I am sorry to hear that, but
all I can do is hope that you don't get caught in it. I hope
that helps."
The cow was unsympathetic. "I
am powerless over a mousetrap. It's really no big deal, as far
as I am concerned." |
|
The mouse was hungry by this
time, and returned to his hole in the wall to wait for the farmer
and his wife to go to sleep. Finally, when it was very dark,
he ventured out in search of some cheese. The sound of the mousetrap
catching its prey awakened everyone.
The farmer's wife rushed out
to see what was in the trap. What happened next surprised everyone.
In the dark, she did not see the venomous snake that had entered
the house looking for a mouse dinner. But the snake's tail got
caught in the trap, and the snake bit her. The farmer rushed
her to the hospital, but when she came home, she still had a
fever.
Figuring that chicken soup would be a good remedy for the fever,
the farmer sacrificed the chicken for the soup. But her condition
didn't improve, and friends and neighbors came to sit with her
around the clock so the farmer could tend to his crops and animals.
In order to feed them all, the farmer butchered the pig. Even
so, the wife did not survive the fever. So many people came to
her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the cow to provide
meat for the luncheon.
And the mouse watched the events
unfold with great sadness from his little hole in the wall, because
all the friends who had ignored his warning were gone.
We all know mouse stories like
that: we see a problem and try to warn our co-workers but they
don't see the big picture. Suddenly, or so it seems, the domino
effect has tumbled through department after department and no
one seems to know how it happened.
When one area of your company
is in trouble, chances are good that the problems will trickle
down to rain on everyone. Sales are slumping? Then production
will be affected at some point because the product isn't moving.
Similarly, production issues can cast a cloud on sales when products
aren't available when customers need them.
Phone lines and websites that
crash can shut down an operation in a hurry, even if sales are
up and production is on schedule. A snowstorm, hurricane or flood
will halt the most efficient, best-run businesses, unless contingency
plans are in place for remote operation.
As one who deals in morals of
the story, I think the moral here is very clear: All the parts
need to work together to keep the whole body moving ahead.
Whether you are a one-person
operation or a major corporation, there is one question that
you should always ask -- and answer: What can go wrong? What
can make your best-laid plans fall apart? What would be the worst-case
scenario? And how can you respond to it?
If you've ever played the child's
game "Mousetrap" you
know that you can progress through the obstacles until you almost
reach the "cheese." Then, when you least expect it,
the dreaded mousetrap falls.
Play "Mousetrap" with your staff. Think about likely
as well as outrageous eventualities that you would need to address:
The whole staff gets sick from tainted birthday cake and the
office has to shut down for a week. A long-term power outage
knocks out every machine and all communications on the planet.
The city tears up the streets around your business during your
busiest season. An asteroid hits your city. Your bank fails and
ties up your payroll. Your biggest competitor builds a better
mousetrap.
It's not so different from the
lesson you learned in school -- the time to study for a test
is before you take it.
|
Mackay's Moral: |
Be prepared, or be prepared to
fail. |
|
The Author  |
|
Harvey Mackay is a nationally
syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate. His weekly
articles appear in 52 newspapers around the country, including
the Chicago Sun Times, Rocky Mountain News, Orange County Register,
Minneapolis Star Tribune and Arizona Republic.
http://www.mackay.com/
Copyright, Harvey Mackay. All rights reserved. |
|
|
Print
Forums
Refer Page
submit an article
