Once upon a time in the magical land of corporate chaos, there was a thriving, growing company. The company had grown so much they needed a bigger building and more employees. New space and new employees meant new “stuff” was needed.
The Director of Distributed Dysfunction was tasked with outfitting the new conference room. It needed carpeting and flip charts and projectors and a whiteboard. It also needed a new teapot. The Director found a lovely $20 teapot. It was functional, stylish and durable. This little teapot knew it could do a great job!
The Director presented the facilities plan at the weekly executive meeting. Carpeting was decided upon, technology investments were approved and the team was just wrapping up, when all of a sudden someone said……
”Hey, what about this teapot? We will host lots of important customers in this room. Some will drink coffee, some will want tea and some just drink water. We have to make sure we can meet all of these needs.”
Debate ensued about the value of the $20 basic teapot vs. a fancy machine that makes every beverage imaginable. After 15 minutes of debate, the meeting was at a close. The Director was tasked with completing a cost benefit analysis of purchasing one $20 teapot and one $20 coffee pot, versus the other options available.
The Director spent about 90 minutes researching these options and prepared a PowerPoint. 15 minutes was scheduled during the next executive meeting for the presentation, discussion and decision about the teapot. The meeting started 5 minutes late. It took 10 minutes to update the people who didn’t show up to the last meeting, and before you know it 15 minutes turned into 30. Sales and Engineering formed an Alliance, arguing for a Turbo Teapot at a cost of $250. Finance insisted the $20 teapot was sufficient. Quality wanted to know the exact specifications before deciding.
In the end, it didn’t really matter which teapot was purchased and everyone was thirsty.
The Director of Distributed Dysfunction was tasked with outfitting the new conference room. It needed carpeting and flip charts and projectors and a whiteboard. It also needed a new teapot. The Director found a lovely $20 teapot. It was functional, stylish and durable. This little teapot knew it could do a great job!
The Director presented the facilities plan at the weekly executive meeting. Carpeting was decided upon, technology investments were approved and the team was just wrapping up, when all of a sudden someone said……
”Hey, what about this teapot? We will host lots of important customers in this room. Some will drink coffee, some will want tea and some just drink water. We have to make sure we can meet all of these needs.”
Debate ensued about the value of the $20 basic teapot vs. a fancy machine that makes every beverage imaginable. After 15 minutes of debate, the meeting was at a close. The Director was tasked with completing a cost benefit analysis of purchasing one $20 teapot and one $20 coffee pot, versus the other options available.
The Director spent about 90 minutes researching these options and prepared a PowerPoint. 15 minutes was scheduled during the next executive meeting for the presentation, discussion and decision about the teapot. The meeting started 5 minutes late. It took 10 minutes to update the people who didn’t show up to the last meeting, and before you know it 15 minutes turned into 30. Sales and Engineering formed an Alliance, arguing for a Turbo Teapot at a cost of $250. Finance insisted the $20 teapot was sufficient. Quality wanted to know the exact specifications before deciding.
In the end, it didn’t really matter which teapot was purchased and everyone was thirsty.
