I can always count on my right wing brother to forward me stupid but ironically appropriate emails. Tonight is no exception. I'll skip the one about the nude, "full service" gas station though.
So while this is basically a cut-and-paste, I think it's a good reminder to those voting tomorrow precisely what is at stake. Do you want more of the same, or are you ready for change?
Modern Parable - Toyota and Ford
A Japanese company (TOYOTA) and an American
company (FORD Motor) decided to have a canoe race
on the Red River. Both teams practiced long and
hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided
to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat.
A management team made up of senior management was
formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing
and 1 person steering, while the American team had
8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper
study was in order, American management hired a
consulting company and paid them a large amount of
money for a second opinion.
They advised, of course, that too many people were
steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting
to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing
team's management structure was totally reorganized to
4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents
and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system
that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater
incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing
Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners
and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of
getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment,
extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the
rower for poor performance, halted development of
a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital
investments for new equipment. The money saved was
distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and
the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.
Sadly, The End.
Here's something else to think about: FORD has spent
the last thirty years moving its factories out of the
US, claiming they can't make money paying American
wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more
than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:
TOYOTA made 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up
9 billion in losses.
The FORD folks are still scratching their heads.
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY!
So I'm going to ask you, if you happen to live in Pennsylvania (or another state that has lost jobs) and this story hits a little too close to home to be funny, what are you going to do about it?
Are you ready to vote for a change? Because you can make it happen.
Yes, you can!
Go vote, everyone.