My dad dug a big whole whilst levelling the back garden and
decided he would call it a swimming pool.
The new build house had a steeply slopping back garden. Never one
to pay someone for doing something he could do himself my dad went
about moving earth , lots of it, to level it up. He took earth from
the bottom of the garden and moved to the top. He started in one
corner and soon found he had the beginnings of a large hole. Rather
than have the back garden terraced on three levels he went for all on
the same level with a big hole in one corner. When asked about the
resulting big hole he said it was going to be a swimming pool.
In organisations it’s all to common for senior managers to dig
them selves holes whilst trying to achieve a bigger goal. They should
stop digging but often they claim the hole was intensional, part of
their plans. My dad’s hole never turned into the promised swimming
pool and after 3 years we moved house. The first thing the new owners
did was to fill in the big hole in the garden.
Much the same happens when a senior manager leaves an
organisation, the new post holder comes in and immediately fills in
the holes their predecessor left.
You may have come across one of these unintended byproducts,
which were claimed as always part of the plan, in the latest
restructuring, the move to outsource services or the proposed merger.
Blair Mcpherson former Director , author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk