An alternate title for this post is: Research your Analogies.
Near the beginning of each year, the company I was fired from, announces its yearly goals in what I’ve come to call the “Celebration or Decapitation Meeting.”
This year it was Decapitation all the way. Layoffs were announced, the rest of the company was chastised for ineffciently working too hard in the wrong direction, and we were informed that a re-org would take place to get us on the right track and more efficient.
Then, an analogy was laid out for the re-org – right now we are a caterpillar, with many different legs, wiggling in many different directions — but by the end of the year we will be a beautiful butterfly. A grand metamorphosis that we all get to experience and benefit from.
I’ve always been a huge fan of caterpillars and butterflies. As a kid, I would gather caterpillars from the milkweed by the irrigation ditches by my house. I would put them in jars with holes poked in the lids and feed them fresh milkweed everyday. I also kept their jars spotlessly clean. Then, one day, I’d go to clean the jar, and low and behold a lime green cocoon would be attached to the lid. Days would pass until the cocoon would turn black, then slightly translucent. Once it was translucent, I knew it was close, so I’d hover over the jar waiting for the butterfly to emerge. Once the butterfly emerged, it would be kind of damp, so it would sit on my finger and dry its wings for a while, then finally fly off. A metamorphosis is an amazing thing, I’ll agree with that. But what does the butterfly do once it flies away?
Now, of course, the answer to this question depends on what kind of butterfly you are. I believe the butterflies of my childhood were probably Painted Lady butterflies who are known to live on nectar, the sweet substance of the gods fit for such a delicate and lovely creature. However, a few years ago a local rancher near Walla Walla, WA, was kind enough to allow me to hike on her land. It was a beautiful area that flowed from meadow to woods. It was the time of year when the calves were stumbling around getting their first glimpes of life, and of course pooping everywhere. Well, do you know what was all over that dung? I mean ALL OVER that dung? Butterflies! Bright yellow butterflies! I think they might have been the Green Comma butterfly.
Well, a little research revealed to me that the caterpillar feeds on plants like pussywillow, azaela, and gooseberry while the butterfly feeds on nectar, DUNG, and CARRION.
Now I ask you is it better to be a caterpillar or a butterfly?
This is the kind of stuff that I think about during company meetings. Is it just me, am I special in my brain patterns, or is everyone else in the room having similar stream of consciousness experiences? Does what I’m thinking about show on my face? Maybe this is why I got fired…
Here is another analogy from the company. They recently added a feature that helps users navigate through the system more easily. This feature is referred to unoffically as “breadcrumbs.” You know, a trail of breadcrumbs to help you find your way back home – just like Hansel and Gretel.
Now, the way I learned Hansel and Gretel, when they used breadcrumbs to find their way home, the birds of the forest ate the crumbs. This is what lead Hansel and Gretel to be incarcerated by the witch and nearly roasted and eaten!
Do we want our customers to be so lost getting through the software that they feel roasted and eaten at the end of their experience? No, of course not!
I do believe that Hansel and Gretel did successfully find their way home using a trail of shiny pebbles that glowed in the moonlight. Perhaps this feature should have been called “pebbles.”
Perhaps these analogies are telling? One should think things through a little more before implementing them. Or maybe I’m just nitpicking? Really, this is just stuff that goes through my head during meetings. It may have no meaning whatsoever.