Indian Wisdom

1
Indian Wisdom

• Please take no offence this is really a metaphor
  for various business approaches to solve
  problems.
• When viewed in this light, it is not the Dakota
  Indians that sound silly, it is the people in
  suits and corner offices.

2
Indian Wisdom

• The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed
  on from one generation to the next, says that
  when you discover that you are riding a dead
  horse, the best strategy is to
• Dismount.

3
Dead Horse Wisdom

• However, in the modern business environment,
  because of heavy investment Often other factors
  are taken into consideration.
• Leading to other DEAD horse strategies being
  tried Known strategies have included

4
Dead Horse Strategies DHS

• Buying a stronger whip.
• Changing riders.
• Threatening the horse with termination.
• Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5
DHS Continued

• Arranging to visit other sites to see how they
  ride dead horses.
• Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be
  included.
• Harnessing several dead horses together to
  increase speed.

6
DHS Continued

• Providing additional funding to increase the dead
  horse's performance.
• Reclassifying the dead horse as
  "living-impaired.
• Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead
  horse.

7
DHS Continued

• Doing a productivity study to see if lighter
  riders would improve the dead horse's
  performance.
• Declaring that the dead horse carries lower
  overhead and Ergo performs better than some other
  horses.

8
DHS Continued

• Rewriting the expected performance requirements
  for all horses.
• Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory
  position.
• Perhaps a suit and a corner office too !
• If you have other examples, I would love to hear
  them