A modern parable of the talents

On a much duller November morning than this was in late October we took a look at what the parable of the talents (Matthew 25.14-30) might look like in a modern business setting.

 It was Friday afternoon and things in the office were beginning to quieten down. Marco, who was head of a large department with responsibility for international marketing, was cautiously sipping a cup of over-hot coffee and once again trying to work out the best way to sit on the bar stools at the narrow round table in front of him. Why, he wondered, and again not for the first time, did this perching have to be so difficult? Did the top management want to make sure that employees did not take over-long coffee breaks?

Very soon he was joined by Sophie, who managed a smaller group based at their site. They developed the products which Marco’s people sold. Over recent months both teams had come together and worked very effectively with each other and the results of both had exceeded expectations.

After a few moments in which both adjusted their posture, Marco still unable to find a place for his long legs and Sophie realising that she had not dressed quite appropriately for this seating, they began to look forward to the next week. ‘Are you ready for George’s visitation on Monday?’ Sophie asked.  George was their boss. He was based at a different site and would visit occasionally. He carried the inflated title of Vice President and was known for not holding back his views when he was not satisfied with performance. On the other hand, he was quick to reward success. ‘I think so,’ Marco replied. ‘Things have gone really well recently and I need to tell George that with the output from your people we can do even more. We’ll need to increase the headcount above my present 50 though.’

Sophie looked pleased. As a relatively new department head she had been very nervous about the responsibility, but her team of 20 had got together and lined up several products almost ready for marketing. ‘Thanks, Marco,’ she said, ‘we’ve certainly been very successful in identifying future growth potential with substantial long term upside implications.’ Marco smiled back. She didn’t really need to attempt this elaborated business jargon.

At that point another department head joined them. It was Simon. He’d been in his role for a long time. With his 10 staff he had the responsibility of providing support for all the office functions so that people like Marco and Sophie could develop the business. Simon looked depressed. He was not looking forward to Monday. He didn’t understand how to talk to George; in fact he was frightened of him. Sophie and Marco looked at each other recognising what was on Simon’s mind and a silence fell round the table. Simon did not seem to notice the awkward seating and he burnt his tongue on the hot coffee.

Simon started in mid-thought. ‘It isn’t as if we haven’t kept things going. There has been no down time of any kind and no incidents that needed fire-fighting. But I’m uncomfortable. George always seems to demand more from the same resources. My people do their job and then go home, and I think that’s all I can ask.’

Once again Marco and Sophie looked at each other with the same thought. Simon had  stated his problem clearly. He was stuck with the idea that all he had to do with his 10 staff was to cover all the basic objectives and that would be acceptable. He had not realised, or did not want to recognise, that things in business were not like that any more. Senior management looked for innovation in the use of resources. They expected department heads and their teams to find ways of delivering more. Sophie and Marco had understood this, but Simon …

Monday, and George had arrived earlier than anyone expected. People were still arriving at their desks. It did not seem like a good start. George went round the department heads’ offices. Marco showed him the outstanding results and George, who was under similar pressure from his bosses, was quick to see the potential benefit to the company, to Marco and not least to himself. He promised to see if he could find more resources for Marco.

Sophie had a similar experience. Through her business linguistic fog George saw real long-term potential that needed support. He planned to phone head office at lunchtime to see if he could get increased headcount for them both right away. So George was in a buoyant mood when he called on Simon …

At the end of the day, drained but elated, Sophie and Marco were comparing notes. It seemed that Marco’s 50 staff would be increased to 100 and that more territories would be included in his operation. Sophie’s team would also be doubled. They were both aware that more resources would lead to greater expectations of results. But that was the deal you signed up for when you took on responsibility. Then Marco looked around. ‘What’s happened to Simon?’ he asked. Sophie continued to stare down at her coffee. ‘I thought you knew,’ she said. ‘One of my people overheard George talking to HR on the phone. Simon’s been fired.’

We don’t know about business management in first century times, but things like this do happen today. Those who are successful get more resources and those who just do the basics fall away.

Simon just did the minimum to keep the operation going. He did not see the need for any ambition. Sophie and Marco accepted the challenge of responsibility and by working together with their staff they achieved a lot and opened up an even greater potential. This is the challenge for every church community.