Dilemmas in Work and Play
Whatever happened to Goldilocks after her adventure with the three bears? What was the little pig going to do when he or she went to market? What were the seven dwarfs digging for when they went off to work? What kind of pies did Simple Simon make and why was he called Simple? Why did the three little pigs decide on such different building materials? Why did Jack not patent the seed that generated his bean stock? Why did Dorothy’s red shoes not become popular foot ware? Why did the Big Bad Wolf not pursue an acting career following such a wonderful Grandmother imitation?
Why did Nortel fail?
Fairy tales are just that, they are fairy tales. They are entertaining, often contain a meaningful message and readers can conjure up as many endings as imaginations will allow. They may be pleasant or nightmarish. The Nortel failure belongs in the fairy tale nightmare category because the story is so implausible as to be fictional.
After a litany of missteps, customers coined the phrase that the company was under a Black Cloud. Such a label is bad news for everybody as attested by two examples. Treasure Island features the Black Spot, a symbol when delivered to victim meant a guilty verdict carrying severe punishment. Lil’ Abner highlighted a mournful character by the name of Joe Btfspik whose continual misfortunes were symbolized by a Black Cloud over his head.
A Black Cloud is certainly bad news, even an imaginary one. Nortel stakeholders are well justified in categorizing their misfortunes as a fairy tale with major nightmarish overtones. Alas there is nothing imaginary about this tale.