Employee “A” in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day?
The manager took “A” to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank.
“A” completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said “GOOD JOB”
Next day Employee “B“ has been assigned the same task.
Employee “B‘ before starting the task saw Employee “C” was struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized “C” has the same task.
Now “B” not only crossed the river but also helped “C” to cross the river. On reporting manager smiled and said “VERY GOOD JOB, ‘B’”
Employee “Q” has been assigned the same task again. Before starting the work he did some home work and realized “A“, “B” & “C” all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed. He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task.
He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. The manger said “Q” you have done an “EXCELLENT JOB“.
Employee “O’ is also assigned the same task again.
“O” studied the procedure written down by “Q” and sat and thought about the whole task.
He realized company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, “You no longer need to assign this task to any one”. The manager smiled and said “OUTSTANDING JOB ‘O’. I am very proud of you.”
What is the difference between A, B, Q & O????????
If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated “team performance” over an above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as “INITIATIVE“.
Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what every one constantly looks out for. Initiative, Out-of-Box thinking and commitment are the stepping stone to success.
Initiative should be life long. Think of out of the box.
