John dealt with various segments of the business – he did procurement, marketing, sales, and put all the responsibilities of the business on himself working long hours. At one point he realized that it would be beneficial to hire someone to work with him. So that’s what he did – he hired a colleague, and they did all the daily tasks together.
However, John still lived in his belief that only he knew what was best for the company. Regardless of hiring an extra hand, he still held all the creative control and assumed all responsibility. In consequence, his newly hired colleague was constantly waiting for John to tell him what to do and how to do it. The colleague had a lot of ideas, but John stubbornly didn't listen to them. With pride, he held true to the philosophy that only he knew how to run the business the right way.
Nonetheless, success was still out of reach. John was not satisfied. Despite hiring a new colleague, he still did everything. He still didn’t have any free time, and his return on investment for the new hire was minimal. So, he decided to fire the colleague.
Dissatisfied with the situation, he went home after a long day's work. On the way home, he fell asleep on the subway. Deep in his slumber, he started having an interesting dream. In that dream, he was working for another man who had his own company. The man was very successful, as was his company. He had many people working for him and in that company and every employee knew their role and their responsibilities with that role. Every employee had the freedom to make decisions regarding their job.