The Strategy Day
Drononimus liked the idea of working smart and was very pleased with his initiatives. Honey productivity had increased and the Queen was happy. Most others considered him to be a creature of habit, but it was clear to him that he was a very modern bee.
As he went about his duties Drononimus was struck by the idea that maybe there were even greater ideas waiting to be implemented.
As the sun began to set the Drones gathered in the Gentlemen’s Club. Drononimus was full of zeal now and persuaded the Drones to invite the Consultantz back to hear their ideas on how the hive could be transformed.
The next day there was a ratatat on the door of the hive.
Drononimus briefed the Consultantz. Tonee summed up at the end, ‘Wee are deelighted to help. Wwwith a thorough review of all the activities weee would soon have a very clear action plan.’ Tonee continued and Drononimus’ thoughts wandered for a moment. At the end of this he was sure that Tonee had said something about pushing the envelope but had to admit that he didn’t understand that at all. He made a mental note to follow more carefully in future what Tonee said.
The young and enthusiastic Consultantz flooded in holding their clipboards and stopwatches.
Two days later the Consultantz returned to make a presentation.
Tonee began in his high-pitched voice, ‘Gentlemen, eeet is clear that there eees a problem.’ Drononimus was shocked, he thought that now everything was fine and could only get better. Tonee carried on with his presentation. ‘The colony has no clear purpose and lacks focus.’
The Drones were confused and Drononimus voiced their concern, ‘But making honey is our clear purpose.’
Tonee smiled wryly and retorted, ‘Making honey is not a purpose, it’s simply a means to an end.’ This was all very confusing. ‘It was clear that making honey ensured that they survived – in order to make honey,’ Drononimus thought to himself.
Tonee understood that he was losing his audience and said, ‘No gentlemen, don’t look so worried, we have to simplify your purpose so that everyone gets the message. When the vision is clear, everyone can get behind it and make it happen. You will be pleased that we have already come up with some ideas.’
Drononimus tried to follow all that was outlined but admitted to himself that most of it was rather too high level. However, he was pleased that he had got what seemed to be the big idea. The colony had a new motto, ‘Bee Smart’. It had such a good ring to it, thought Drononimus to himself.
The Change Programme
Later that day, as the news of the new motto spread through the colony, Milly and Flor were chatting in their customary way on the landing strip. Zeus said that he liked the idea of a free tee shirt with the new motto but was concerned that it would get in the way of carrying pollen. Then his thoughts turned to what had happened during the day and recounted what he had seen. ‘Today I saw a man playing Dancing Queen on a didgeridoo. I thought that's abbariginal.’
