Employee Q was assigned to cross a river and retrieve a box within an hour without using the bridge. Q studied how previous employees A, B, and C completed the task, realizing there was significant variation in time and costs. Q created a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) to complete the task efficiently within budget and time. The manager praised Q for doing an excellent job. Employee O then streamlined the process further by negotiating with a boatman to deliver boxes for $3 daily, eliminating the need to assign employees to the task. The manager said O did an outstanding job and was very proud. The difference between the employees was that A, B, and Q focused on the assigned task, while O questioned the need for

1. What Does
Outstanding
Job Mean???

2. Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and
asked what my job is for the day?

3. The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to
cross the river and reach the other side of the bank and bring
the box back in less than an hour without using the bridge.

4. "A" completed this task successfully by taking a shared boat for $10
and reported back to the manager about the completion of the
task assigned in 55 minutes. The manager smiled and said,
GOOD JOB

5. Next day Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked
him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as
above to this person also.

6. The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river
to reach the other side of the bank. He realized "C" has the same task. Now "B"
hired a motoscooter for $ 30 and crossed the river and also took "C" along.

7. "B" reported back to the manager that they did the job in 30
minutes and the manager smiled and said,
VERY GOOD JOB

8. The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked
him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

9. Employee "Q" before starting the work did some home work and realized
"A", "B" & "C" all has done this task before. He met them and understood
how they performed (time spent 2 hours).

10. He realized that there is a need for Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for doing this task as there was huge
time and money variations.

11. He sat down and wrote down the detailed SOP for crossing the river,
he documented the common mistakes people made, various means of
achieving the tasks, and tricks to do the task efficiently, within budget
($ 15) and on time (max time spent 1 hour) (time spent – 4 hours).

12. Using the SOP he had written down he crossed the river
and reported back to the manager along with
SOP material. The manger said,
“Q”
You have done an
EXCELLENT JOB

13. The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked
him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

14. "O" studied the SOP written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole
task (5 minutes). He realized company is spending a lot of money in sending
the person over when they can just ask the boatman to bring the box.

15. He decided not to cross the river, negotiated with the boatman who agreed to
do the same for $3, sat down and enjoyed his beer while the boatman brought
his box in the assigned time. He went back to his manager and said,
You no longer need
to assign this task to
any one, boatman will
deliver it to us for
$3 everyday.

16. The manager smiled and said,
Outstanding job
'O'. I am very
proud of you.

17. What is the difference between A, B, Q & O????????
Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play. Most of us
end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We
would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation.

18. Let us compare ourselves with "B". From a company point of view "B" has
saved time but spent huge money on something that was not critical.
While he achieved the task in 50% time of the assigned task, he was
focused on the task and not on the relevance of it.

19. "Q" created knowledge base and more paperwork for the team. More often
than not, huge procedures, timelines and methods exist without questioning
the rationale. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help
but always needs to be preceded by the question WHY???
Something that we forget as
we blindly follow and try
and standardize a task that
can be eliminated or more
efficiently performed in
a different manner..

20. Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task, what it was anyway,
irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the organization, freeing
up precious time for more useful work – saved time (full one hour
eliminated) and money (only spending $3) too.

21. If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team spirit" over
and above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a
very invaluable characteristic known as "INITIATIVE". Initiative
pays of every where whether at work or at personal life.

22. If you put initiative you will succeed. Initiative is a continual process and
it
never ends. This is because this year's achievement is next year's task.
You
cannot use the same success story every year. Out-of-Box thinkers are
always premium and that is what every one constantly looks out for.