Fortune's Fables: In The Name of the Micro-Management Father

Malinka the Milkmaid loved her cows
Stephan the Shepherd loved his sheep
Together they cared for their little flocks
Better than Boy Blue or Bo-Peep.

Lawrence the landlord loved to order,
And order and order he did:
“Plow the fields, mend the mill,
Shoe the horse, feed the kid.”
(Goats, that is.)
Lawrence gave order to all that he did.

Still the farm was so big, so much to be done,
That Larry got lost sometimes
He’d say, “Stop.” Then say, “Go.”
Then say, “Catch-up, slowpoke.
We’ve got to get this done on time.”

Larry depended on Stephan and Mallie
To do their jobs well anyway.
“They know what they’re doing and if I forget
Then they’ll tell me and not go astray.”

Which would have been fine, but apparently not,
For as Malinka would say:
“When my boss tells me ‘Do’,
I do without thought,
For thinking is not what I’m paid.”

Stephan was different, he thought all the time,
But he thought like a lawyer in heat:
“If I do what he says and it’s not what he wants,
Or do what he wants and it’s not what he says,
Or go to the left when he says ‘To the right’ –
Oh lord, it’s hurting my head!”

Which brings us now to Warren the Wolf,
As hungry a beast as could be.
When he saw what was what
He knew what was not:
That decisions were never to be.

So he went to the cows and he went to the sheep
And he said to Malinka and Stephan:
“Lawrence the landlord wants me to be fed
Bring me lamb chops and steak by eleven.”

Now Stephan he knew that this was a crock
And Malinka she said, “This is crazy.”
But Warren the Wolf, he huffed and he puffed:
“This is what Larry said. Don’t be lazy!”

Despite both knowing the Wolf’s words made no sense,
The name of “Lawrence” was uttered:
And so though they knew that disaster'd ensue,
They served him steaks and chops in hot butter.

Moral:
If there’s no common theme, there’s no self-defense
When the shepherds behave like the sheep.
So masters beware, craft your orders with care:
For consequences to be what you mean.