Editor's note: The author of this story, Jack Allen, is the chief executive officer of CFR, Inc., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was named Rough Notes Marketing Agency of the Year in 1994. Jack has long had an interest in management issues related to employee motivation, and in this "corporate fairy tale" he examines some of those issues by rewriting a familiar children's story. CFR utilizes a personality profiling service, discussed at the end of this article, to help ensure a good fit between agency employees and their work assignments. Jack's interest in human motivation extends to children as well, as he volunteers as a classroom assistant in Tulsa area grade schools, helping boost students' progress by appealing to their individual learning styles.
Many of us remember the fairy tale of the little red hen who seemed to struggle with a feeling that the other animals, specifically the dog, the cat and the duck, never seemed to lend a helping hand. As the story goes, Little Red Hen lived on a farm with her five chicks. On this farm there also lived a dog, a cat and a duck.
One spring day Little Red Hen found some seeds and decided to plant them in the field. She spotted the farm dog sleeping soundly and woke him to ask for his help. His response was "not I." So Red and her five chicks planted the seeds themselves.
When the stalks of wheat had grown tall and were ready to be harvested, Little Red and her five chicks took their cart to the field and begin to harvest. She spotted the cat in the field licking her paws and Little Red Hen's famous "Who will help me" question was now asked of the cat.
The cat responded "not I" to Little Red Hen. But her chicks said, "We will help you harvest the wheat."
The next day Little Red took the bundles of wheat to the mill for the miller to make flour. Once the flour was made, it was put into sacks for Little Red Hen.
Little Red and her chicks brought the flour back to the farm and, as they arrived on the farm, they spotted the duck swimming in the pond and munching on some tasty weeds.
Little Red asked, "Who will help me unload this flour?"
"Not I," said the duck.
The now familiar "Then I will do it myself" line was heard once again coming from Little Red Hen. Of course, her little chicks piped in, "We will help you."
In the fairy tale we are starting to get the picture that only Little Red Hen and her chicks are willing to do anything on the farm. Little Red asks the "Who will help me" question for helping in making bread and only the chicks pipe in with, "We will help you."
We all remember what happens next. The bread is made, it smells great, the dog, the cat and the duck all agree to help Little Red Hen eat the bread; but she, of course, refuses to share the bread with these guys because the dog didn't help her plant the seeds, the cat didn't help her harvest the wheat, the duck didn't help her unload the flour and none of them helped her bake the bread.
The moral is that it really is not fair to expect a reward if you don't help out with the work. This fairy tale has served as a good story to children all over the world to learn about doing their part and the importance of helping with the workload. It can even provide a good lesson for all of us in the workplace as well.
Have you ever thought that maybe there was more to be learned from this fairy tale? Perhaps if we were able to visit with Little Red Hen, the chicks, the dog, the cat and the duck, we could learn a few more lessons about behavior, relationships, expectations, responsibility, cooperation and understanding the importance of teamwork. We might even get a glimpse of what made the farm seem to work so well in spite of this one incident.
Since this is only a fairy tale, I find no reason that you and I can't just go talk to Little Red Hen, the chicks, the dog, the cat and the duck.
I've chosen to start by visiting with the dog. In my conversation with Robert, the dog, I discovered that he was an essential employee of the farm--with his keen sense of smell, his speed and his natural talent as a watchdog. He was uniquely qualified to protect the farm from predators that might destroy the property and kill all of the other animals in our story.
It turns out that Robert had been up most of the night before. Little Red Hen woke him from a really well-deserved deep sleep. You see, there was a fox in the area and he would have loved to sneak into the hen house and eat Little Red Hen and her chicks. Fortunately, Robert smelled the fox and was able to chase him out of the area. In fact, he cornered him, then gave him a choice to leave and never come back to the farm or be killed by the strong jaws of this very talented dog.
Our cat, Sherry, was responsible for keeping the buildings and fields free of rodents. When Little Red Hen and her chicks appeared on the morning of the harvest, Sherry was licking her paws to sooth a wound recently made by a large rat. Sherry had surprised the rat in the field as he was beginning to enjoy a meal of Little Red Hen's wheat crop. Unfortunately, Little Red was so focused on what she wanted the cat to do now she never even thanked her for the wonderful job of protecting the crop from rodents over the past several months.
Chuck, the duck in our story, was no longer on the farm. Nobody knows what happened to Chuck after he left. Some say he just got tired of babysitting for the chicks. Some say he just flew south for the winter and decided he liked it better. Some say the pond dried up and he was just a "duck out of water." He just didn't feel that he fit in anyplace on this farm.
In our interviews, we found out from the chicks that their mom, Little Red, had explained to them when she found the seeds that if they would help her, they could eventually share in the eating of the bread. It's funny that neither Little Red nor the chicks ever told the dog, the cat or the duck what they were up to.
The dog was unique at watching over and protecting the farm; without his talents they could have all been killed by the fox he drove off the night before.
The cat got a bad rap for not helping to harvest the wheat, but there wouldn't be any wheat to harvest if she wasn't vigilant in her efforts to keep the building and fields free of rodents.
It's hard to tell about the duck. Maybe he was confused about his responsibilities; maybe he didn't feel he was pulling his fair share; but maybe, just maybe he was in some type of transition in his life and this just wasn't the best place for him to find his unique talent. A "duck out of water."
We also learned in our interviews with the barnyard creatures that the "goody-goody" chicks weren't always as cooperative as the story implies. While it is clear they were very helpful in this adventure, there are many other stories of misadventure.
Our hero, Little Red, said the farm was a very happy place and that most of the time they all enjoyed each other. This was a very productive farm when the animals got to do what they loved. Little Red admitted that her talent for coming up with new ideas sometimes got in the way of her ability to communicate properly.
Little Red sometimes got stuck in her own beliefs that since the dog could dig great holes, he should naturally want to help plant seeds. She knew the cat had claws that would be perfect for harvesting, so she just assumed the cat had a natural talent for this job. The duck had a very broad back and could carry the bags of flour easily. It just never crossed her mind that the duck would resist doing something that seemed so natural to a duck's ability.
How many times have we failed to identify the talent of those around us because we got caught up in our own agenda? Take a good look at your own company and ask yourself if your employees know what is expected of them in their job. Do they have the necessary tools to do their job and do they love what they are doing? Are they using their unique talents in an organization that celebrates their unique abilities?
What if Little Red got what she asked for?
What if the dog, the cat and the duck in the story of the little red hen had done what Red asked them to do? After all, each was competent to perform the requested task.
Imagine that Little Red, as manager, required the animals to perform the various duties she wanted done on the farm.
Robert, the dog, could easily perform the duties associated with digging and planting seeds. But he doesn't really like planting seeds and gets easily bored with this task, and Little Red has to spend a great deal of time constantly overseeing his work and prodding him to continue. The planting gets done but there is no job satisfaction for Robert. For Little Red, the time it takes to keep Robert going takes its toll. She has no time to lay eggs (i.e., produce new workers), and that's frustrating to her because she enjoys laying eggs. She's uniquely qualified for that work--and is good at it.
Sherry, our cat, is now harvesting the wheat but really doesn't like doing it. To her, this work is just a little better than the unemployment line. Secretly, she gets through the day thinking about how mad Little Red is going to be when she sees how small the wheat yield is going to be. Too bad Little Red didn't listen to her idea for rodent control--ha, this is going to show her.
Chuck, our duck, does end up sticking around and does odd manual labor tasks, none of which he does very well. He is not really filling much of a role but he knows that sometimes a warm body is better than nothing.
Unfortunately, two of the original five chicks have been killed. The fox got into the hen house and ate two of the chicks while the dog was out planting.
The three remaining chicks were forced to do the near impossible work of five employees.
Eventually, the dog got really fed up with doing work he really doesn't like. He preferred to feel good about himself rather than keep doing a job he hated. He quit and used his saved up vacation time to find another job.
Our cat, unbeknownst to Little Red, had been sending resumes from the time her idea wasn't utilized. She was hired by an Irish rodent control firm that had made its name in snake control. They were looking to expand and felt the cat would be a valuable addition to their company. The cat called in sick three days in a row, taking her accrued sick time, prior to handing in her notice.
The poor chicks! Not only did the chicks have to deal with losing two family members, they were now overworked to the point of breakdown. One left the farm because he was not sure how safe the job really was now that the dog had gone.
The two remaining chicks got so tired of doing the work that was meant for a much larger workforce that they decided to join a union to protect their rights. "If only Little Red had kept producing there would be enough workers," they thought. "Obviously, she doesn't care about us."
What does Little Red get when she ignores her peoples' talents and discourages them from doing what they love? Let's look at the results in our story when Red gets the behaviors she thought she wanted:
1) She lost a strong and loyal dog and now must spend more time and more money on protecting and planting crops.
2) Rodents are taking over much of the remaining crop since the cat left.
3) Two chicks have been killed.
4) One chick left because she was afraid.
5) The two remaining chicks are overworked and unhappy.
6) The duck is still on the farm because he doesn't have anywhere to go, and Red is probably stuck with him on the payroll because she didn't get rid of him at his six-month evaluation. He retired but didn't tell anyone!
7) Little Red, having lost the backbone of her workforce, is so tired and worried about how to staff the farm that she can't cluck out another egg even though the farm depends on her for new young talent.
8.) The bread still isn't made!
Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their book, First, Break All The Rules, say that great managers make the difference in great companies. I am convinced that great managers help employees identify their unique talents, place them in a position to use those talents and provide them with the tools to enhance their skills and knowledge.
When you do what you love to do, you usually do it better than almost anyone and you are energized. Doesn't it make sense to give everyone in your organization this opportunity?
Peter Senge, author of The
Fifth Discipline, believes, "Your competitive advantage is not in your current knowledge; it is in your ability to create new knowledge and change in the future." We must become learning organizations that ask questions, become aware of our unique culture, take reasonable risks, and drive change. We can create this long-term competitive advantage only if people love what they do, do what they love and constantly learn, grow and communicate with each other.
In our agency we've seen many of these barnyard principles at work. We've had a few "ducks out of water," who have been happily relocated to productive ponds within or outside of our agency.
(1) A CFR commercial account manager who needed to be challenged with "bet-you-can't scenarios" and a highly competitive atmosphere transitioned from a process intensive position to work with a highly successful, competitive producer. This resulted in a win-win for the employee, producer, our clients and the organization.
(2) CFR's financial manager, who needed to avoid the status quo and was frustrated by the redundant tasks within the department, transitioned to operations manager where she thrives on deadline-intense situations, flexibility, and innovation.
A better understanding of people's individual strengths and styles can make for a more productive work force. When people are doing what they naturally do well and are doing it in an environment which encourages them to be themselves, energy levels are higher because they are not struggling to work against their grain. There is less stress and strain for the individual. Employees appreciate the fact that CFR celebrates their individual strengths and does not pressure them to change or conform to a standard.
One way to assess people's strength and styles is by using The Kolbe Concept®. It is based on a simple instrument called the Kolbe A IndexTM, a set of questions with several responses. The results are used to classify a person's instinctive behavior into four Action Modes®. All of us demonstrate some instinctive behavior in each of these four modes. The combination of these behavior forms becomes our individual modus operandi (MO)--the way we instinctively take action.
Understanding that everyone has his/her own unique MO has been beneficial in all areas of the agency. We know who will require more research and facts and who will just need the bottom-line information in order to make decisions and move projects along. We know who will provide structure and organization and who our "hands on" people are. When you understand the individual needs of your employees, managers, producers, and co-workers, you get better results. Delegation becomes an easier task, team building is more successful, and identifying the right fit for positions within the agency is much easier. We are able to set people up to succeed, rather than set them up to fail. *