The Foolish King’s Mindset and Organization’s Culture!

A Short Story: Once upon a time, there lived a king and twelve ministers who were proudly running a poor and failed kingdom. The people of the kingdom mostly consisted of hardworking farmers who have limited or no role in the king or minister’s decision-making to run the day-to-day affairs of the empire. The majority of people were living in poverty and without much hope for better conditions in the country anytime soon.

Not only the king was a foolish person, but all his twelve ministers “except one” were idiots; these advisors praised the king all the time and never missed any chance of buttering him. These advisors were the king’s favorite and he never listens to anything against them whatsoever.

However, King was the king; so, on one such bad day, when woke up in the morning; he was feeling bored and wanted to order something thrilling. Something that would be of strategic nature, and visionary and had never been achieved in the past by any king.

He ordered the cabinet to assemble and called upon all his wise ministers on short notice. The cabinet meeting was called without any agenda, and ministers rushed to the palace even without breakfast due to the urgency of the business.

Everyone was looking towards the king for his directions, and all sudden he announced the visionary task he was going to assign to the ministers. He addressed in haste to ministers and ordered them to “count the birds” in his kingdom with 100% accuracy. He gave them a target to complete the task within 24 hours however after a suggestion from one wise minister, changed it to seven days considering the complexity of the task. Also, the king announced that if any minister failed to count the birds will be terminated and punished while those who will complete the task as directed will be rewarded.      

All the ministers except one, rushed out of the palace; took notepads and took their horses, and went to start counting the birds. The king asked the remaining minister why he is not going to count the birds; the minister said, he will count before others and he left the palace, went home, and sleep.

The other ministers spent days and nights and were unable to count the birds, as birds were flying here, there, and one place to another. After few days, these idiot ministers realized that it is impossible to count the birds. One by one, they came to the palace and informed the king that they are unable to count the birds due to many challenges. The king terminated them one by one, punished them in solitary prison for life as they all failed to meet the strategic and visionary task ordered by the king.  

At last, the wise minister came to the palace, and he informed the king that, he has counted the birds in the kingdom. The king was very happy and enquired about the numbers; the minister instantly replied that there are one million birds in the county at present. The king looked towards the minister in doubt, and the minister further clarified that his count of birds did not include the birds that went to visit other countries, as well as the birds that came from other countries to the kingdom for visit. Also, his count did not include the birds that were born today after hatching from the eggs. The king was still in doubt and told the minister if his count is incorrect, he will get the death penalty. The minister confidently answered, my king, if you are in doubt about my count, please go out and count the birds yourself. The king thought for a while, and happily accepted the minister’s count; he rewarded the minister with promotion and gold coins of his weight as he achieved the strategic target as directed by the king.

Moral of the Story: What we can learn from this story, and we can relate it with the organization’s culture in some companies in few regions of the world. Here are few things to consider when you are setting goals for your team.

• The king’s self-defined strategic milestone was a clear example of an unclear goal; A lack of direction and unclear goals are among the largest reasons why companies and projects fail.
• The king sets the goal based on his wish rather than with a specific objective in mind; setting goals without assigning measurable objectives will likely lead to goals that never get accomplished.
• The king set the goal without prior discussion or consultation with his team, and it came as a surprise for them; furthermore, the king never gave chance to the team to challenge the goal, its objectives, and what will be the purpose?
• The king agreed on a target date of one week without any basis of the duration estimate, or without considering the scope of work or efforts needed; he set the impossible duration to achieve the goal; What makes a project successful, the answer is “a realistic schedule”; unrealistic schedule is the main cause of projects failure.
• Although the king was a foolish person, he assembled a team of idiots; even if companies have silly bosses, they can work out for a better team; Effective teams are the foundation of every successful organization or project. One must develop a team in which each member brings his or her talents and skills, which contribute to the overall success of the company.
• The king made the decision of counting the birds in haste without prior homework or need for the decision. The king clearly lacks the decision-making skills in this story. Leaders must learn the decision-making skills for the success of the organization.
• The king punished the ministers who informed him that, it was impossible to count the birds however accepted an estimate which the king had no means to verify. As a leader, always try to set SMART goals and identify reasons for failure or success.
• The king put the fear and rewards scheme but did not realize to give room for making mistakes; as a leader, always allow your team to not fear for making unintentional mistakes; mistakes are sometimes necessary for success.
• The king assigned the task of count birds to ministers who were not subject matter experts or had any experience of dealing with such things. As a leader, always try to match tasks with talent and assign them to the right people for successful results.
• The ministers did not dare to ask the king, why they need to count the birds, what is the objective or purpose. They just acted on the instructions without thinking and went straight to the field.
• The ministers acted without discussion with each other, all ministers worked in silos; if they would have discussed as a team, the result would have been different. Teamwork motivates unity in the workplace and promotes an atmosphere that fosters creativity, friendship, and loyalty.

Written by: Mujahid Akhtar

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