(my boss sent me this today)

“Japanese vs. American management style

Two teams of American and Japanese corporations have a boat race. On the big day the Japanese win by a mile.
The discouraged Americans hire a consulting firm to investigate the problem. The findings are that the Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering while the American team had one rower and eight people steering. Based on these results, the American team is completely reorganized to include four steering managers, four steering area managers and a new performance review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work incentive.

The following year the Japanese win again, so the Americans lay off the rower for poor performance and give the manager a bonus for discovering the problem.”