Hunting Dogs: A Management Parable

The original source for this comes from a Chinese book I have called "Shui Zhu San Guo". I felt it was interesting, and took the liberty of translating it.

There once was a hunter who had a hunting dog. Every day the hunting dog would go out and catch rabbits for the hunter. One day, the hunter was visiting his shepherd friend, and the hunting dog struck up a conversation with his sheepdog. The sheepdog asked, “You’re so big and strong, why can’t you catch a little rabbit?” The hunting dog replied, “It's a matter of motivation: I’m running for my dinner, he’s running for his life.” The hunter heard their conversation and was inspired.

One day, he went to market and came back with several other dogs. He gathered them together and announced a new policy: the amount of dog food each dog receives shall be directly related to the number of rabbits each dog turns in. If a dog does not return with any rabbits, he will not receive any food. Thus each dog tried his utmost to bring in rabbits, since no one wanted to be staring at an empty plate while everyone else was digging in. For a while, all was good.

However, the hunter noticed that he was getting an abnormally high percentage of older, weaker, or sick rabbits, so he called a meeting. One dog brought up the grievance. “We get the same reward regardless of quality, so why spend the effort catching a big rabbit when we can easily catch a weak one?” The hunter nodded in agreement and implemented a new policy. After a set period of time, if the total weight in rabbits brought in by each dog is greater than or equal to a certain amount, then for the next period of time the dog may receive a large ration of dog food. For a while, all was good.

However, the hunter later noticed another drop in rabbit input, and this time the more experienced the dog, the lower its input. So he called another meeting. His original dog brought up the grievance. “Master, we work and toil for you loyally and receive dog food. However, we’ll eventually get old. What happens when the strength of our muscles leave us?” The hunter nodded in agreement and implemented a new policy. In addition to the weekly ration, there will also be a sum total record of all the rabbits ever caught. If the sum total weight in rabbits brought in by a dog exceeds a certain amount, than that dog shall forever be entitled to the normal ration. Also, excess weight shall result in larger portions. So the dogs worked hard again, and eventually several dogs attained the target sum total and lived happily ever after.

Eventually, some of the dogs caught on. “We work so hard catching these rabbits, but we switch them for dog food. However, the rabbits we turn in are actually worth more than what the hunter gives us.” Thus, they left the hunters to catch rabbits for themselves.

Moral: There are actually 5 morals. 1) Your subordinates must be motivated (running for dinner vs. running for life). 2) Don’t rely on only one good subordinate to do the job (buying multiple dogs). 3) There must not be any ambiguity in what you want to reward. If you want to reward hard work, don’t base it on hours in the office; instead, base it on how quickly and how well they do the job (number of rabbits vs. total weight). 4) Make sure your subordinates know you care about them and will care for them even if they can’t work for you and give them incentive to go above and beyond (“retirement pension, overtime pay”). 5) Give your subordinates important things to do. Make them feel that they’re putting in their time for something worthwhile. That way, you won’t have subordinates leaving you to do things for themselves.