Of Brine & Swine

Surprisingly more people are killed each year by pigs than are killed by sharks.

Businesses often spend a great deal of their resources, human and financial, on figuring out a way to get ahead of the competition, the sharks. They focus on the sharks outside the business and rightfully so. You cannot ignore your competition and viewing them as sharks will motivate you to swim faster, else that will eat you up.

But sharks are not what kills or damages most businesses. The pigs inside the building are the real threat to the business. The are also the part of the business that is completely within control of the management. Allowing the pigs to destroy by tolerating their lazy and ineffective work ethic happens far too often. When a company becomes so consumed with the sharks they allow the pigs to run wild, a death spiral is inevitable. Pigs run wild, at times, without running at all. When management allows the pigs to lower the overall expectations by accepting their mediocre efforts and results, they are in effect saying that this behavior is acceptable. Pigs are crafty and will appear to be making progress when is fact, they are simply working dilligently at not working. Others in the company see the pigs performance and reasonably think that if the pigs can behave as they do and still get paid, why should I make the effort to meet expectations. The pigs don't, so I am not going to.

Allowing pigs to wallow in their sty of deplorable results while expecting others to make up the difference does the company considerable damage and will eventually take a toll on everyone. Once a pig is identified, get the pig help and try to turn the pig into a productive member of the team by insisting that they perform at a higher level. If they chose not to take advantage of the opportunity, call the butcher.