From Productive to Unemployed: How Micromanagement Ruined the Department

Arriving at work early every day, a small ant would begin working immediately, producing a lot and feeling happy. Upon seeing this, the boss, a lion, was surprised that the ant worked without supervision. He thought to himself that if the ant could produce so much without supervision, she could produce even more with a supervisor!

To that end, the lion recruited a cockroach, who was famous for writing excellent reports and had extensive experience as a supervisor. The cockroach's first decision was to establish a clocking-in attendance system. In addition, he required a secretary to aid him in writing and typing his reports, so he hired a spider to handle the archives and monitor all phone calls.

The lion was pleased with the cockroach's report and asked him to create graphs that described production rates and analyzed trends for presentation at board meetings. To accomplish this, the cockroach purchased a new computer and a laser printer and recruited a fly to manage the IT department. The ant, once productive and relaxed, now despised the new avalanche of paperwork and meetings, which consumed the majority of her time.

The lion concluded that it was time to appoint a person in charge of the department where the ant worked. The position was given to the cicada, who purchased a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office. The cicada, the new head of the department, also required a computer and a personal assistant whom he had brought from his previous department to aid him in creating a work and budget control strategic optimization plan.

The department where the ant worked became a dismal place where no one laughed, and everyone became upset. The cicada convinced the lion to conduct a climatic study of the office environment at this point. After examining the expenses of running the ant department, the lion discovered that production had decreased significantly.

As a result, he recruited Owl, a prestigious and well-known consultant, to conduct an audit and suggest solutions. The owl spent three months in the department and produced an enormous report that concluded, "The department is overstaffed."

Can you guess whom the lion fired first?

The ant, of course, "because she showed a lack of motivation and had a negative attitude."