THE ACCOUNTABILITY RACE - [262 words]
United Airlines and Southwest Airlines decided to engage in a competitive boat race. Both companies' teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance.
On the big day the United Airlines team felt ready, but the Southwest Airlines team won by a mile. Afterward, the United team was discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and recommended corrective action.
The consultant's finding: The Southwest team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the United team had one person rowing and eight people steering.
After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough were rowing on the United team.
To avoid losing again the next year, United's management acknowledged the new paradigm and made sweeping changes -- completely reengineering the team. The new structure: Three regional steering managers, four area steering managers, and one assistant steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the one person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "United Team Quality Program," and included meetings, dinners, and a system pass for the rower to "give the rower empowerment and enrichment through the quality program."
The next year, the Southwest team won by two miles. Humiliated, United Airlines corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.