There once was a lovely Ship owned by a man who loved the Sea. She’d been built by the most expert of boat builders using all the latest technology for one very specific reason: to carry passengers from City A to City B in an enjoyable, timely, and safe way. To make sure the Ship achieved this goal, the owner hired the very best of Captains. The Captain had a great sense for the Sea, acquired over nearly a lifetime of sailing. He understood the Sea better than anyone – the currents, the waves, the tides, the constellations, and all things related to the running of a Ship.
Now of course the Captain could not do everything on such a large and modern Ship by himself. So, he hired the very best Director, Chief, and Deputy. The Director managed all the services relating to the happiness of the passengers, the Chief managed all the electrical and mechanical components of the ship, and the Deputy was in charge of sailing and navigation. You see, in order to take happy passengers safely from City A to B, many things had to happen in perfect concert, and the happy Crew dedicated themselves to this end.
This went on for many years, and all the Crew were able to perfectly hone the method by which they carried passengers from City A to City B in the most enjoyable, timely, and safe way, making the Ship one of the best in the entire world. And the passengers were so happy that they often returned to travel again and again. The crew was happy because they enjoyed their work, and the owner was happy because his business was successful and making money every year.
One day the owner decided that the time had come for him to retire and sell the Ship. He found a most willing buyer who saw the great success of the Ship and thought it would make an ideal investment. The new buyer was also new to Ships, but he seemed eager to learn and he was very impressed by the majesty and the success of this particular Ship. Though he had never travelled on it, he had spoken to his Advisors, and they thought that he might be able to sell the entire business only a year later at double the price! Such a return was practically unheard of, and so he was very excited about the prospects for this Ship. He promised the owner that he would continue to run the Ship responsibly.
Life on the Ship continued just as it had before – the Ship carried happy passengers in the perfect method honed by the Crew, and everyone was happy. One day, as he was crunching the numbers, the new owner realized that he could possibly sell the Ship next year for triple the price he had paid! Just a small amount of cost reduction here and there and he could make it happen! So he spoke to the Captain, the Director, the Chief, and the Deputy about ways to cut costs – “just small things mind you… we still want to ensure that we’re carrying passengers from City A to City B in the most enjoyable, timely, and safe way. This is our number one goal as always! But, if you can cut the costs for your department by 25%, you will earn a large bonus!”.
The Director, Chief, and Deputy went their separate ways and dedicated themselves to reducing their respective costs by 25%. The Director was very close to retirement and thought a bonus would be quite nice. She began to crunch the numbers and soon realized that she could save money in some very simple and straightforward ways. First, they would close one of the restaurants and its kitchens and instead have multiple dining sessions in the main restaurant. This way, they could serve meals with half the staff and provide fewer food options. Also, should any of the crew choose to leave over the next few months, she decided that they would be replaced with junior crew members at a great discount, and these things combined would achieve the goal of saving 25% in Hospitality. When the new owner heard her plan, he very happy. In fact, he thought the Director’s change to hiring practice was so inspired, that he thought it should apply to every group on the ship. And he made it so.
The Chief was having a bit more difficulty. He investigated keeping fewer parts in inventory. He contemplated keeping fewer engineers on staff. He could come up with no better alternative, so by this method, he was eventually able to create a plan to cut costs by a whopping 30%. But there was a tight, nagging feeling in his stomach that he was forgetting something that was quite important. When he presented his plan, the owner was quite thrilled, and sang his praises throughout the Ship as someone who was really willing to go the extra mile. The Chief had never before been so lauded by the owner of a Ship, and so he began to feel quite proud of his accomplishment.
Now, truth be told, the Deputy was more than a little miffed at all the attention that the Chief was getting. Surely there was no job more important than actually sailing the Ship! Yet the praise for the Chief continued, and the Deputy decided that the only way he would outdo him would be to cut costs more. So the Deputy called a Sailor to the Bridge and set him on the helm while he went off to crunch the numbers. He realized that if they changed the route and fired the engines at a much lower rate, they could cut their fuel use by nearly half! With fuel prices on the rise, this was a very good idea indeed. Since fuel was the main expense in navigation, he was able to cut costs by an astounding 40%. He presented his idea to the new owner, who was absolutely ecstatic and wondered why on Earth this had never been done before! “It will take us an extra day to reach City B…” the new owner mused. And then a tiny, yet thrilling, inkling took form in the new owner’s head… “But, we can charge the passengers for this extra day!”. And so it was done.
At this point, the new owner was so impressed by the efforts of the Director, the Chief, and the Deputy, that he decided that he ought to lead by example and take drastic measures himself. He called the Captain in and began to ask him some curious questions. “Is it true that you have hired the very best Director, Chief, and Deputy.” And of course the Captain, with full confidence in his Crew, said yes. The new owner continued “Is it also true that the Director manages all the services relating to the happiness of the passengers, the Chief manages all the electrical and mechanical components of the ship, and the Deputy is in charge of sailing and navigation.” Again, the Captain answered yes. The new owner then expressed an odd look of confusion before continuing. “Then, what precisely do YOU do?” And the Captain answered “I ensure that the entire Ship is functioning in perfect concert to move passengers from City A to City B in an enjoyable, timely, and safe way”. The new owner mulled this over carefully. And though that did seem like a noble cause, the owner decided that the Ship was functioning very well and that the Director, Chief, and Deputy would be perfectly capable of handling this going forward – didn’t they do this work anyway? And then the new owner had very best of Captains escorted from the Ship.
The new owner had heard that the key to successful changes on Ships was clear communication. So, later that very day, the owner sent a very clear communication to the Crew relating the departure of the Captain and the itinerary change from four days to five. Despite the clarity of the message, the Crew seemed oddly unhappy. In fact, some even seemed prone to sudden bouts of weeping, which the new owner found very curious. The Director complained that she suddenly had to plan meals and order an extra day’s worth of food on very short notice. The new owner answered that it shouldn’t be a problem because the passengers were paying for that extra day. And so, the diligent Director rose to the occasion, quickly working out a new meal plan and ordering the extra food to be loaded in City A on the following day. The crisis was averted, and the Director breathed a great sigh of relief. The Chief didn’t appear to be impacted by the itinerary change, and of course, it had been the Deputy’s choice in the first place, and so all was well.
Their bad luck began early the next day as they approached the harbour in City A. The winds had shifted in a strange direction and the current was stronger than normal. Since the Captain was usually at the helm while docking, this proved a challenge for the Deputy, but, with the new owner’s full confidence behind him, he felt quite up to the task. As the Ship swung into the dock, there was just one slight bump, barely perceptible, but felt by all, nonetheless. After examining the Ship, the Chief assured the Deputy that all was well. The bump had done no damage at all, except to dislodge one, small electrical panel, which was used for a minor, auxiliary system and, regardless, it should be fixed quite soon. Of course, with the crisis averted, the Deputy was relieved, and they went about the busy work of preparing the Ship for the happy passengers.
Under the watchful eyes of the Director, the extra food was loaded in the cargo bays of the Ship without a hitch, and everything seemed to progress on schedule. As usual, the Chief cleared the Ship to sail, and they left port uneventfully to sail for City B, with their happy passengers in tow. Now it takes a good amount of time to unload supplies for a five-day journey, so this continued on well after they had left the dock. When the Crew began stocking the kitchens and restaurant, they realized they had one small problem… nothing major of course, but someone should probably let the Director know. The refrigerators and freezers were full to the brim, and there was still half a day’s worth of food to put away. A casual observer might note that shutting down the other restaurant and its kitchens had caused this very small problem, almost not even worth mentioning, but there was an additional, unlucky glitch. The little electrical panel, dislodged by the mostly imperceptible bump on the dock, had been powering the large auxiliary freezer already full of food. Something had to be done.
The Director decided to call an emergency meeting. She could not recall ever having an emergency meeting before, but it seemed like the reasonable thing to do. So, the Deputy left control of the Bridge with a Sailor and the Chief was summoned from engineering and together, they met to discuss the small problem.
“Not a problem at all”, said the Chief – the electrical panel will be fixed in just a few short hours. Quite an easy fix, he added. Just about anyone in engineering could do it. The Director, in the meantime, decided to move some less-perishable items from the fridges, and thaw some dinner items early in order to make way for the extra food. So, relieved, and with the crisis averted, they set off to do their work.
Later that day, their luck only got worse. Noone in engineering could find the parts they needed to fix the electrical box. As luck would have it, they needed two parts, and only one was available – the second of the pair had not been replaced some months back, in order to reduce inventory.
So the Chief thought it wise to call another Emergency meeting, since it had worked so well before. And the Deputy left control of the Bridge with a Sailor and the Director was summoned from Hospitality. After explaining the situation, it became clear that there was but one possible course of action – they must turn back to City A and cancel the trip. The Deputy concurred that this must be so and agreed to change course immediately for City A, while coordinating their return with the Port Authority. So, with the crisis averted, they set off to do their work.
Back on the Bridge, the Deputy turned the Ship back towards City A, but he just couldn’t seem to catch a break. When he contacted the Port Authority in City A, they had no room for the Ship in the Port. That was when the usually-calm Deputy began to feel the stirrings of what could only be described as panic. So he called another Emergency meeting and passed off the helm to a Sailor.
The Director, the Chief, and the Deputy met once again to find their way out of the horrible and unlikely circumstance that they’d found themselves in. Luckily, the Chief had quite a brilliant stroke of inspiration. “I’ve got it – we will just fire up the engines on full, change our course and make it to City B in four days instead of five. We’ll throw the extra food overboard so that it doesn’t rot, and we’ll simply skim a little off the other meals to make up for the broken freezer. That made complete sense to the lot of them and, with the crisis averted, they set off to do their work.
The Director coordinated the jettisoning of the extra food, while the Chief made his way down to the engine room in preparation to fire up the engines. The Deputy returned to the Bridge and relayed the plan to the Sailor at the helm. The Sailor immediately grew pale, which the Deputy found to be an exceedingly strange response. “Whatever is the matter?”, he asked, certain that nothing could compare to the terrible luck they’d already had in the short span of a day. The Sailor simply choked out one word. “Fuel.” A chilling realization began to flood the Deputy and he barked “Get down to the engine room now and stop the Chief from starting the engines – we need to conserve the fuel”. He realized that they were already wasting their precious fuel travelling back towards City A!
The Deputy knew now that the most important of Emergency meetings was immediately required, and he looked around for someone to take the helm. Having sent the Sailor to Engineering, the Bridge was empty, save for a young Sailor who was staring at the horizon through a large pair of binoculars. The Deputy called out “You! Man the helm. I’ll be right back”. The Sailor’s eyes widened in fear and he replied “But Sir, I’ve not taken the helm. This is my first sailing. I’m a Junior Sailor. My job is to look through these binoculars out at the horizon”. Frustrated, the Deputy called for another Sailor, and, when none appeared, bemoaned his terrible fortune – he was now surely between the Devil and the deep blue Sea. Then he recalled how productive their Emergency Meetings were – they made their plans so efficiently and quickly that surely he could leave for just a moment. That’s it – he would be back in a jiffy. So he patted the Junior Sailor on the shoulder and told him to keep watching the horizon through his binoculars and said that he would return in the very briefest of moments.
On his way to the Meeting, the Deputy realized the most prudent of actions would be to stop in the kitchens to order an immediate halt to the jettisoning of food, but they had been so efficient in their work that he found the job nearly complete. When he reached the meeting, the Deputy explained that they did not have enough fuel to fire up the engines on full power to cut off the extra day of sailing because of the planned reduction of fuel costs. This seemed to stump them all – what absolute rotten luck! Not a single person could find an solution to their latest predicament, so they just sat in silence for a few moments, the Deputy with his head in his hands. Finally, the Chief spoke up, glaring at the Director.
“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t closed the second restaurant!”. The Director stared back in shock. “What does a fuel problem have to do with a restaurant? If this is anybody’s fault, it’s the Deputy’s for not carrying extra fuel!”. The Deputy was having none of this, so he shot back “We wouldn’t need any extra fuel if we had just one, small, spare part – as far as I’m concerned – this is the Chief’s fault.” And the Chief countered that they needed the extra part only because the Deputy had struck the dock. And so this continued for quite some time.
Back on the Bridge, the Junior Sailor was busy marveling at a very curious phenomenon. He had begun to realize that when a ship is moving steadily across great expanses of calm, open water, with no obstacles and no clear and imminent destination in sight, it can continue in such a manner for a surprising amount of time without a soul realizing that noone is steering the Ship at all. Through his binoculars, he could see a great flurry of activity all around the ship, of course. “This surely is a Ship where all manner of important things get done!” the Junior Sailor
thought. He felt very proud and fortunate to be part of such a Ship. And truly, many important things were getting done, though it also remained true that, while those important things were getting done, the Ship sailed on, completely unmanned.
The Junior Sailor understood his job quite well – his sole purpose was to watch the horizon for signs of any danger or obstacle and relay them to the helmsman. He remembered from his training that the key to identifying dangers through large binoculars was to look for breaking waves that seem out of the ordinary, so he diligently scanned the horizon of the calm Sea for any such activity and saw none. He was not terribly concerned that nobody was at the helm, because the Sea was so calm, and the Ship seemed to move forward in a straight line anyway, and the Deputy knew what he was doing and had promised to be back soon, besides.
As the sun rose in the sky and the light scattered across the water, the ocean grew calmer still. The Junior Sailor began to wonder when someone might return to take the helm. He could not leave his post, of course, since it had been impressed upon him that his job was to look out at the horizon and that it was absolutely essential to do so. He was not terribly concerned, because, this being such a beautiful day on the Bridge with calm seas and clear skies, surely he would see any hazard from miles away.
The first sign of something gone terribly wrong was not even a wave at all… it was just a ripple – the tiniest of ripples spreading out across the glassy Sea not a hundred metres from the Ship. The Junior Sailor realized in horror that they were approaching a rock shoal. As protocol dictated, he immediately turned towards the helmsman – only of course there was no one there. There had been no protocol at all for this scenario that he found himself in so unluckily, so he did what he was trained to do and continued to stare at the shoal through his large binoculars.
The Ship struck the shoal mere moments later, causing Crew and passengers to be knocked off their feet and breaching the hull of the Lovely Ship in a way that can only be described as catastrophic The Crew knew exactly what to do in this situation – they immediately mobilized to implement their evacuation plan, and all Crew and Passengers were safely and quickly evacuated to the life rafts, and SOS was relayed as the lovely Ship, built by the most expert of boat builders, and run by the very best Director, Chief, and Deputy, took on water and inevitably sank to the bottom of the Sea.
And so it was, for the first time in many years, the Ship did not carry passengers from City A to City B in a most enjoyable, timely, and safe way. In fact, it was quite the opposite – never had a group of passengers arrived in any place in such an untimely manner and so utterly miserably.
The evacuation efforts of the Ship were deemed a great success and praised worldwide as a marvel of modern nautical planning, engineering, and crisis management. In fact, the Deputy, the Director, and the Chief, among many other Crew members, received awards of high honour for the safe evacuation of all passengers and crew with not a single life lost. The Director retired happily, the Chief was hired on to an even bigger and more complex Ship, and the Deputy achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a Captain. The new owner, while disappointed, was paid out by the Insurance company, and went on to invest in other businesses including pharmaceuticals and supply chain management.
After a short inquiry, the blame was laid squarely on the Junior Sailor, who was never to sail on any Ship ever again.
Shifting Lean 