Logan (in the foreground) and Hayden riding ponies at Myuna Farm in Doveton.
Farmer Ed was sad.
His large farm was losing money and he didn’t know how to turn around his financial situation.
As he drowned his sorrows at the local pub, he told everyone within earshot about his predicament.
Another local farmer came up and recommended that he buy three horses. He suggested that if he bought a clydesdale, a thoroughbred and a pony, he would be able to transport his produce more efficiently, he could make money at the races and offer children’s rides to make extra cash on the weekends.
Intrigued by this idea, Farmer Ed used the last of his cash reserves to buy a clydesdale, a thoroughbred and a pony.
A month went by and Farmer Ed was again seen drowning his sorrows at the local pub.
“What’s wrong?” his friends asked, “We thought that you had bought the three horses.”
“I did,” responded Ed, “but the pony is terrible at pulling the wagons full of produce, the clydesdale has lost every race so far and the thoroughbred is too energetic for kid’s rides and keeps galloping away with the children, much to the angst of the parents.”
His friends laughed.
“What’s so funny, I’m ruined!” Exclaimed Ed.
“The clydesdale is meant to pull the wagon, the thoroughbred is for racing and the pony is perfect for children’s rides.”
“Oops,” an embarrassed Farmer Ed said as he jumped up to go back to his property and get things back on track.
Every person has skills and abilities, but if you are doing something that you’re not made for, you will be ineffective and unhappy.
And if you’re a leader of people, the closer you can match your people’s skills to their role, the more successful your team will be.
It seems obvious, yet I still see ponies trying to pull wagons, clydesdales coming last in races and thoroughbreds running off with screaming children on their backs (figuratively speaking, of course).
Don’t let that happen to you.
And don’t let that happen to your people.
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6 comments
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August 25, 2012 at 2:24 am
Debbie
Great analogy , Coach D! God bless you as you help us do what we were meant to do!
August 26, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Darren Poke
Thanks Debbie
August 25, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Maggie Humbert
This an excellent analogy, but I think it leaves out one important detail…while using each employee’s strength you also need to work on their weaknesses. When I was an X-ray tech I would delegate tasks according to each person’s strength, but I also would delegate smaller unfamiliar tasks to each employee to build on their experience, improving those areas of weakness. By using this method, I developed an unstoppable team with diverse skills. My second-shift crew could easily outperform any other shift (tech per tech). …and as we all know, the ability to improve performance is key in any business.
August 26, 2012 at 8:39 pm
Darren Poke
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Maggie. Just remember that if you try to be great at everything you won’t be great at anything.
August 27, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Aadon
Very encouraging story, gud for self improvement. Thanks Darren
August 28, 2012 at 11:07 am
Darren Poke
Thanks Aadon