Business Lessons From “This Little Piggy”

This little piggy went to market.

The Big Toe represents the principal of the foot. It is usually an educated, older white male regardless of the gender or skin color of its owner. There’s very little diversity among big toes. Clearly in control, the other little piggies are forced to follow the Big Toe’s lead. The Big Toe doesn’t care about the others, only what they can do for him. He provides direction but the lesser piggies do most of the work. He’s pampered because he’s viewed to be the most important of the toes. However, truth be told, he couldn’t function properly without the other piggies. He’s also extremely well paid, so he can afford to go to the market anytime he wants.

This little piggy stayed home.

The Second Toe is Big Toe’s key advisor. Most often white male, he takes orders from Big Toe and directs the actions of the other piggies through his key advisor, Middle Toe. He filters communication back up to Big Toe as necessary – only to the extent Big Toe might be personally affected. He’s also well cared for but is expendable like the other piggies. Because of his highly stressful position, he often calls in “sick”. Although he stays home quite often, he still works very hard.

This little piggy had roast beef.

Perhaps the hardest working piggy, Middle Toe works directly with all the toes. This is the toe where diversity becomes evident. She’s extremely conscientious and proud of the position she’s achieved, although she would like to be acknowledged for her efforts. She may not be wealthy but she has enough to feed her family roast beef.

This little piggy had none.

Fourth Toe is undervalued and under appreciated. She works as hard as the other toes but is often overlooked as a key player. She doesn’t earn enough to buy roast beef but she still makes a decent living. Unfortunately she’s easily expendable and she knows it. Nevertheless, when she’s not surfing the web, she contributes her part to make the foot move forward.

This little piggy went “wee wee wee” all the way home.

Little Piggy clearly doesn’t give a sh*t. He shows up to work every day but contributes as little as possible. He’s self conscious because he’s smaller than the others and has a slightly different shape. Consistently ignored, he spends more time whining and complaining about the other piggies than he does working. The others aren’t even sure why he’s there because he rarely adds value.

The lesson.

If Big Toe got his head out of the end of the shoe and acknowledged the value of his other toes, the foot would run faster and longer, improving the whole body.

May the farce be with you!

Your IFF,

Pam

This lucky little piggy couldn’t care less, viewing these lessons as spam