Are you going to be a chicken or a pig?
“The people we nominate to help in this situation are either going to be the chicken or the pig.” The room went silent, but my mind was racing. Was I the only one who had no idea what she was talking about?!!??
It was a review with the senior executives. I was the least senior person in the room. We were strategizing how to address the issues that were brewing at a distant remote company site. Everyone realized the emerging problems were going to be big and painful and really challenging to get under control.
The “chicken or pig” comment came specifically in response to resistance someone had to sending some people to the remote site. After a pause, the executive went on to explain “when you are making breakfast, the chicken contributes, but the pig is committed”. Aha! It made sense now. We weren’t going to resolve this problem with remote and part-time help. To get the job done, we would have to send people truly committed to working hands-on and to staying abroad for weeks until the job was done.
The mindset in the room changed immediately. The leaders of the various functions got the message – they were now thinking more intently about getting committed help to the site for a dedicated period of time, including several of them getting on a plane themselves. After a few weeks of intense effort, several of the underlying issues were resolved and the situation was in control.
After that project, “chicken or pig” became team shorthand for level of commitment. Next time your team is faced with a big challenge, I strongly encourage you to reflect - are you and your team sufficiently committed for the team to succeed? Are you going to be chickens or pigs?
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