The Ant Story and Management

Every day, a small ant arrives at work very early and starts work immediately.

 She produces a lot and she was happy.

The Chief, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision.

He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervision, wouldn’t she produce even more if she had a supervisor!

So he recruited a cockroach who had extensive experience as supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports.

The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a clocking in attendance system.

He also needed a secretary to help him write and type his reports and …

... he recruited a spider, who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls.

The lion was delighted with the cockroach's reports

and asked him to produce graphs  to describe production rates and to analyse  trends, so that he could use them for presentations at Board‘s meetings.

So the cockroach had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and  ...

... recruited a fly to manage the IT department.

The ant, who had once been so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time…!

The lion came to the conclusion that it was high time to nominate a person in charge of the department where the ant worked.

The position was given to the cicada, whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office.

The new person in charge, the cicada, also needed a computer and a personal assistant ,who he brought from his previous department, to help him prepare a Work and Budget Control Strategic Optimisation Plan …

So he recruited the owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant to carry out an audit and  suggest solutions.

The owl spent three months in the department and came up with an enormous report, in several volumes,

that concluded :

“ The department is overstaffed ...”

Guess who the lion fires first?

The ant , of course,  because she

“showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude".

Interesting facts about Warren Buffet

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Following are some very interesting aspects of his life

1.       He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late! 

·         Things were very cheap that time

·         Encourage your children to invest

2.       He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers. 

·         One could have bought many things with little savings

·         Encourage your children to start some kind of business

3.       He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

·         Don't buy more than what you "really need" and             

·         encourage your children to do and think the same

4.       He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

·         You are what you are

5.       He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

·         Always think how you can accomplish things economically

6.     His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

·         Assign the right people to the right jobs

7.       He has given his CEO's only two rules.

·         Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money.

·         Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

·         Set goals and make sure people focus on them

8.       He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

·         Don't try to show off, just be yourself and do what you enjoy doing

9.       Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

10.   Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

His advice to young people:

"Stay away from credit cards (bank loans) and invest in yourself and Remember:

A.      Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.

B.      Live your life as simple as you are.

C.      Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.

D.      Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.

E.    Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.

F.       After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life."