The story of 'the lion and the ant' illustrates the pitfalls of bureaucratic management practices and how excessive oversight can lead to decreased employee motivation and productivity. The lion's approach focused on control rather than understanding and encouraging the ant's work, ultimately resulting in the ant's dismissal due to perceived lack of motivation. This narrative emphasizes the importance of clear communication, meaningful engagement, and the integration of effective management practices to foster a positive work culture.

1. The Story of “the Lion and the ANT”
a story that all management need
to comprehend and learn from
Training Material | March 2015
and the concept of management quad

2. Every day,
an Ant arrived
at work early
and started
work
immediately ..

3. She was very
productive and
happy too ..

4. Observing this,
the Chief,
a Lion, was
surprised to
see that the
ant was
working
without
supervision !

5. He thought if the
ant could do so
much work
without
supervision ..
how much more
would she be
able to
accomplish with
a supervisor?

6. So the Lion hired
a Cockroach,
who had
extensive
experience as
a supervisor
& who was
famous for
writing excellent
reports ..

7. The
Cockroach's
first decision
was to set up a
“time-clock”
attendance
system ..

8. The Cockroach
needed a
secretary
(a bee)
to help him
write and type
his reports
and ...

9. ... he recruited
a Spider, to
manage the
achieves and
monitor all
phone calls ..

10. The Lion was happy
with the work
progress and
delighted with the
Cockroach's reports
and asked him to
produce graphs to
describe production
rates and analyse
trends, so that he
could use them for
presentations at
board meetings ..

11. ... so the Cockroach
needed to buy a new
computer & a laser
printer, and supporting
software and devices..
and ..

12. ... recruited a
Fly to manage
the
IT department.

13. ... The Ant, who had once been so productive and
relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and
meetings which used up most of her time and affected
her work levels ... !
She was no longer very happy ..

14. The Lion felt
that it was
high time to
nominate a
person in
charge of the
department
where the Ant
worked.

15. The position
was given
to the
Cicada,
who’s first
decision
was to buy
a carpet
and an
ergonomic
chair for his
office

16. The new person in
charge, the Cicada, also
needed a computer.
& a personal assistant;
who he brought from his
previous department, to
help him prepare reports
& Optimisation plans ...

17. The department
where the Ant
worked became
a sad place,
where nobody
laughed
anymore and
everybody had
become upset ..

18. It was at that
time the Cicada
convinced the
chief (Lion)
to start a study
of the working
environment.

19. .. having
reviewed the
report, the Lion
saw a decline in
productivity in
the Ant’s
department..

20. So he recruited
the Owl, a
prestigious and
renowned
consultant to
carry out a
comprehensive
audit and
suggest
solutions ..

21. The Owl spent
3 months in the
department and
came up with an
enormous report, in
several volumes,
that concluded:
“The department is
overstaffed ..”

22. Guess who the Lion
fired first ?

23. The Ant, of course!
… because it was reported
that she “showed lack of
motivation and had a
negative attitude towards
organisation processes.”

24. .. that was the end of
“the Lion and the Ant” story ..
but similar stories continue
under different themes and
excuses in work environments
and organisations !!

25. The story reflects the reality
of many management
practices and cultures in
organisations today ..

26. But let’s
analyse
the “Lion’s”
objectives
and what
he was
trying to
achieve ..

27. The objective
from the Lion’s
perspective
aimed to improve
the level,
efficiency and
effectiveness of
the Ant’s
performance
(at least from our
perception!)

28. Apparently, the
management
approach followed
by the “Lion” and
his team was of an
authoritative;
command and
control nature
rather than a
“motivation and
encouragement”
approach.

29. The Lion and his team
demonstrated great interest
in employing management
concepts of governance,
organisation structure,
performance management,
audit and control, etc…
but they have fallen into
the trap of bureaucratic
management and
administrative red tape..
and they ended up paying
attention to consecutive
tasks resulting from
decisions that were not
linked to written and
defined objectives!

30. Can this explain the
frustration and negative
behavior that appeared
in the “Ant” ??

31. It may be that the «Ant» was suspicious about the new
systems and procedures and thought that it might have
been questioning her work abilities or even a lack of
confidence in her capabilities?
Or that because she was not informed and aware
enough of what was going on around her, it contributed
to her isolation from work and a reason for her passivity!!
Can we get some clearer
excuses for the Ant at least?!

32. But! .. wasn’t there any
other option for the “Lion”
prior to his decision?

33. Among the many
questions that arise if
we attempt to analyse
the story, is the fact
that the Lion could
have achieved the
same set of goals
through:
(1) Increasing the
number of Ants for
example, or ..
(2) by consulting the
Ant itself in what can
be done .. as she
had the cognitive
knowledge about
her own work ..

34. We still wonder
though about:
whether the “Lion”
was aware of
what made the
Ant energetic and
effective, prior to
his first decision?
Or was it a pure
guesstimate-
based decision?

35. What leadership &
management teams
need to understand
is that:
“the decision-
making process in
organisations can
not be based on
guesswork ..”
There is no such
thing called the
logic of guessing in
management!!

36. The story in its entirety, refers
to the importance of
focusing on the final desired
results at all times ..
And that in the absence of
such focus, the organisation
may get itself strategically
deviated and start
implementing and getting
engaged in activities that
were created from none!
Add to this the efforts, time,
and budgets that run along
such activities!

37. Management
is like building
an electronic
circuit .. In
order to light
up the bulb, all
individual
electronic
components
must be
integrated to
achieve such
a goal!!

38. The management circuit similar to an electric
circuit, can’t achieve its organisational objectives
without the incorporation of the four management
dimensions: [management quad]!

39. Management Quad: where management need
to pay attention ..
Copyright: Dr. Ali M. Al-Khouri

40. Remember:
Leadership & management
roles can not be imagined
to be about the “level of
authority” or the “extent of
monitoring and control”
they impose in their work
environments !!

41. The strength of institutional pillars
depends on the awareness levels of the
leadership and management teams of
their primary roles of developing and
supporting a performance driven work
culture and continuously seek to help
workers overcome obstacles that may
hinder them from doing their jobs ..

42. Remember:
“There is no one recipe for success
.. but the lessons we can draw from
experiences remain an important
source of building and developing
our practices ..”

43. Note: “all the characters in the story
are fictitious.. and any resemblance
between them and reality is purely
coincidental.”

44. Dr. Ali M. Al-Khouri
Professor and Fellow, British Institute of Technology
and E-commerce – London, United Kingdom
@DrAliAlKhouri
Email: alkhouriali@gmail.com
Slide Share: Slideshare.netdralkhouri
Academia: academia.orgdralkhouri
References:
Noone, J. (2010) The Lion ad Ant: Some Lessons
for Managers and HR. http://goo.gl/TbTzJi