Hear it and Do it

Let’s say that you own a print shop.  You’ve hired a shop supervisor and the business is growing rapidly.  As the owner, you need to travel overseas to interface with contacts you have in India for a future expansion.  You pack up your family, put the shop supervisor in charge of day-to-day operations, and head to India for several months.  Where you’re going has poor cell service, but you tell your supervisor that you’ll be in communication with him through email.

As the weeks go by, a steady stream of email has been exchanged.  He asks you questions about difficult issues regarding clients, staff members, and equipment.  You respond with detailed instructions on how to handle each delicate situation.  It seems like this arrangement is working out nicely.  After several months, you finish up your business in India and head back to the States.

Monday morning after your return, you’re looking forward to getting back to the shop and to introducing the new products you’ve acquired.  When you drive up to your building, the weeds are all overgrown.  Several of the windows are broken.  There is graffiti on the wall.  You walk up to the sales counter and find the cashier playing games on her phone.  You walk back to the production area and the salesmen, the copyeditors, the accountants, and the pressmen are out back playing basketball.

You look around and notice that there is trash piled up in every corner, the machines have not been maintained and the bathrooms smell terrible.  Nobody seems too concerned about the fact that the shop is a mess and that the owner has returned.  You ask for the whereabouts of the shop supervisor and one of the basketball players yells out, “I think he’s over in the design studio.”

Noticeably upset, you move toward the studio.  When you arrive, you find that the designers have turned the studio into a movie theater and your shop supervisor has been watching “Frozen” instead of … well … supervising.  You ask him to step into your office.

You ask, “What in the world is going on here?”

“What do you mean, boss?”

“Well, look at this place.  Didn’t you get my texts and emails?”

Then he responds by saying, “Emails? You bet!  We got every one of them.  As a matter of fact boss, we stopped the basketball game for an email study session every Friday afternoon since you left.  I have to say sir, those emails were brilliant!  We even divided up into department small groups to study them more in detail.  We analyzed each word and when we came back together as a group, we discussed what those words meant to each one of us.  Some of the copyeditors thought the emails were so compelling that they memorized some of your sentences and paragraphs.  I have to say, your emails are truly works of art!”

Then you say, “So, let me get this straight.  You got my emails, you studied them, you discussed them, and some people even memorized them, BUT WHAT DID YOU DO WHILE I WAS GONE?!”

The supervisor replies, “Well, we did what you asked for a few days, but we mostly watched movies and played basketball.  We had even a jam session one afternoon.  You didn’t expect us to really do everything you asked us to do, did you?  We just kinda did what we felt like doing.  You know, when the boss is away….” 

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