mpty Words

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

One day, Professor Hamblin, the Baron’s chief advisor, was reviewing a story with the Baron and his fiancée, Lady Angela of Alpine Castle.

It seemed there were four individuals, one was the Chief of Police, who were very close friends in business as well as in their social lives. They typically talked things over among themselves before making any final decision and before a plan of action was undertaken. This was especially true if the plan involved everyone on a daily and personal level.

This was done day after day for several years. The open and frank discussions about concepts, plans and ideas worked out quite well.

Then one day, one of the members of the group made a surprise announcement that he had accepted another job offer and would be leaving in a few weeks. He would not be coming back to the office again. It was the Chief of Police.

The three other members were taken by surprise. What happened to the open and frank discussion of issues that affected everyone on a day-to-day basis? Why didn’t the chief say anything earlier about the move?

The only thing the chief said was that he had been thinking about for a while and had spoken with people outside the group for their input. His discussion was firm and final and there was no room for any further debate. “That was that,” he said.

The working integrity of the four members had been broken and now they began to distrust the sincerity of each other’s motives. Nothing was ever the same. Everyone began to look out for themselves and their own interests.

The fourth member of the group departed forever, so he thought, but the job was not what he expected and a few months later he wanted to return to his previous position as chief. But he had burned too many bridges by his abrupt departure and without any open and frank discussion with the other members of the group who had been his close friends.

He could not go back to his former position and he could not receive any supportive letters of recommendation. He needed a job. The only job that he was offered was to chop wood for the furnace in Lilliland Castle.

The Professor concluded his story by saying that there was a right way to go about decision-making and this story was an example of the wrong way to make a decision. Those people that would normally support each other through thick or thin were feeling too betrayed to help anymore.

Consultation before action would have saved the day.