The Director Dove – a Managerial Parable

A dove was cooing sadly by a stream.

Another dove asked what wat the matter.

“I am the deputy director in charge of a crew of beavers to build a dam here,” the first dove said.  “I did everything right I knew how.  I consulted the crows.  I consulted the parrots.  I held many meetings to explain my plan in detail to the beavers.  I fired beavers who didn’t display a team ethic.  I set metrics.  I reviewed records.  I monitored implementation of the plan.  But…” she tilted her head towards the stream.  It ran undammed.

“Maybe the beavers had low morale,” the second dove said.

The director dove replied, “I had an open door policy, so long as the discussions were constructive.”

“Then you did everything right,” the second dove replied.  “It must be the beavers’ fault.”