The bear-king or the price of hubris. (2016)

….nobody dared bring the king any bad news, They made sure he only heard the things he wanted to hear.

Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries. In ‘Telling fairy tales in the boardroom’.
INSEAD Business Press, pp. 38 – 61.

Once upon a time, in the middle of a deep, dark forest in a land far, far away, stood the palace of a king who ruled over an immense empire. But although his kingdom was rich and powerful, all was not well. The people were not happy and laughter was never heard in the land.

The king was a cold, proud man. Although he had conquered all the neighboring countries, he was still dissatisfied. Instead of being kind, fair and wise he was cruel, arrogant and arbitrary. Nobody lived up to his unrealistic expectations. However hard people worked and tried to please him, they were met with sarcasm and ridicule. If they made the slightest mistake the king’s rage was devastating.

….nobody dared bring the king any bad news, They made sure he only heard the things he wanted to hear. No matter what disasters befell parts of his empire, everyday they would report “All is well, everywhere.”

…But of course affairs in the kingdom were very far from well.

• More about the chapter here: The bear-king or the price of hubris
• The chapter is available for purchase here: Telling Fairy Tales in the Boardroom