Moon Shot & Mouse Trap
Once upon a time a mouse decided to take a walk out of the burrow. As he came out of his burrow, he saw a lion lying there in the shade. His first instinct was to scram back into the burrow. For some reason he decided to stand there and take a look. The lion had just finished a sumptuous meal and was in a good mood. He called out to the mouse.
“Hello little mousie, what are you up to?”
“Oh thou Highness! Just trying to see if I can have some fresh air” little mouse replied
“What is the big deal about fresh air? If you decide to come out of that hole you borough yourself in most of the time you can always have as much of it”
“It is easy for you to say that. You are so big. So nothing can happen to you. But for me, I have to be very, very careful.”
“My life is a misery. I have to be always on the lookout for the cats, the dogs the foxes and all such creatures who are trying to make a meal out of me” The little mouse continued.
“Oh! Is that all? The solution is very simple” The lion replied
“Really? Please oh king; please tell me what to do”
“Just become as big as me” The lion replied.
“But how is it possible?” The mouse asked
“That is for you to figure out. I am the king, I only make policy decisions” Lion replied
***
“I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." President John F. Kennedy declared in his speech to U.S. Congress, May 25, 1961.
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” Later he described so about this audacious goal at a speech in Rice University, Houston.
In 1969 Luis Armstrong walked on the moon.
***
What is the difference between the above two stories other than that one is a made up story (not by me) and the other is a true story.
Both were tough challenges and ambitious goals. The first one was set by a leader without thinking through the competence of his team, what is realistically possible with the resource available; a wishful thinking.
The second one was founded on understanding on what could be achievable, supported with the right kind of resource allocation, and total commitment by the leader.
We see samples of both among our corporate leadership. Some set whimsical challenges for the team based purely on bravado or the latest management fad. Then they squeeze the team hoping that this pressure, threat and fear will deliver results.
Some set the goals founded on what the team is best at, what can give them a dream to strive for and then give them the necessary resources and training, induct complementary talent, give a free hand to deliver and extend them a hand of support when they hesitate.
This I suppose is the mark of a visionary leader. And the wisdom to see this difference is what we need to pray for.
''There is a wide difference between true courage and a mere contempt of life.'' Unknown
Republished from my old blog post
CEO@Bonito Designs | MBA | Real Estate | Cons Durables | FMCG | D2C | Growth n Sales Hacker | Business Turnaround & Scale up| Distribution expert | Process Excellence | lodha | Tata Realty | Whirlpool | ICI | Berger
10 年Some set the goals founded on what the team is best at, what can give them a dream to strive for and then give them the necessary resources and training, induct complementary talent, give a free hand to deliver and extend them a hand of support when they hesitate -- This is exactly what needs to be done . A Failure proof approach .
Partner , EY
10 年Great ! But I think there is only a thin sliver between true courage and contempt of life ...
Managing Director APAC of Codebase Technologies
10 年Interesting story, I would however not completely agree, however well endowed with wisdom a leader may be, he alone cannot execute a vision unless those supporting him are 100% a clone of his thought process. History has proven that leaders with a vision are not entirely supported by their followers. look at Hitler (poor example but he united a nation, achieved the impossible, and Germany at that one point in time was the most feared nation on the planet. However evil the intent behind the vision, we cannot deny that without the loyalty and shared vision of his people, Hitler would not have even come close to where he reached in the 40's. true that all the Germans did not agree to Hitlers plan eventually but for the most part, the time they did it made Nazi Germany one of the most powerful nations to have ever emerged in recent times in comparison to the Persian empire. I believe that the mark of a true leader is not only just his wisdom and awareness of the capabilities of his people but augmented with the ability to share that vision in a manner that it breeds loyalty towards that vision including the leader himself. in the modern society that we live in (where internet rules our flow of knowledge and sways our ability to decide for ourselves), a visionary is ridiculed by opinionated internet warriors who criticize and ultimately convince the forum that any good idea is bad before it is even put to the test. We as a global entity should be prescribed leaders that not only provide us with valuable wisdom but tutor us to think like them as the well oiled machine we all are trying to aspire to be.