Leading from the Middle

Caption: The Merchants Going At It! Drawing by Valentin Serov ca. 1911

CERTAIN honest merchants, who had their dwelling and their counting-house in common, made a heap of money.
Having wound up their business, they wish to divide their gains.
But how can a division take place without squabbling?
They have begun to quarrel about the money and the stock, when suddenly there is a cry that the house is on fire.
“Quick, quick, save the goods and the house!" shouts one of them.
“Come along; we will settle our accounts afterwards!
“Give me another thousand first!" screams a second, " or I will not stir from the spot."
“You have given me two thousand too little!" exclaims a third; "but here are my accounts, all perfectly straight."
“No, no; we protest against such an idea. How, for what, and why, do you claim that?"
Forgetting that the house was on fire, these strange fellows went on squabbling where they were, till they were suffocated by the smoke, and they and their goods were all burnt up together.
______________
Ivan Krylov (1768-1844) often linked his fables to contemporary events. This fable refers, we are told, “to the squabbles which took place among the Russian generals at the time of the French invasion (1812).” Presumably, they argued about who was going to lead, who was going to benefit, and how resources were to be used.
I encountered something similar in the workplace. Those squabbles – turf battles – erupted at the mention of downsizing, the merging of units, or eliminating unproductive departments.
The resistance was formidable.
No one wanted to make concessions in order to benefit the whole; instead we all wanted to hold on to what we had even if we suspected those resources could be better used.
Too few of us could see the brighter side and so the only change was of the cosmetic variety.
Fortunately for me, when I was involved in a large-scale organizational reform, my boss and his boss were all for it. They saw it as something long overdue and resisted the invariable second guessing and accusations from those opposed.
Had they not provided me “cover”, we would have been like the merchants in Krylov’s fable, squabbling while our enterprise metaphorically burned to the ground.

*Source: Krilof and his fables, by Krylov, Ivan Andreevich, 1768-1844; Ralston, William Ralston Shedden, 1828-1889. Tr. London, 1869

© Copyright commentary by John Lubans 2023

 

Your comment: Name: Website: E-mail: Remember Me