Camelot had many traditions and energetic King Arthur was making even more. One kingly tradition was to give the next highly challenging assignment to the knight who recently performed with excellence. In this case, the White Knight was asked to correct the civil unrest in a nearby province because it had severely curtailed tax revenues. The White Knight performed wonders. Within two months, civil unrest was under control and taxes again flowed into the King's coffers.
Another tradition within the kingdom was to perform annual Knight Awards. Per the custom, peasants throughout the land identified their most, and least liked knight. The Liked Knight was given gold and a place of prominence in the court. And, by tradition, the Least-Liked Knight was stripped of knighthood and given a cold boot into a barren land.
As one would expect, the White Knight was voted Least-Liked Knight. It sorely displeased the King to even think about banishing the least-liked White Knight. As a result, the king decided to move the White Knight to a remote province within the kingdom. When I talked to him later, he said that it was hard for him to stop thinking about his "no-win" situation and that he would never put himself at risk again. The King would never again get the White Knight's best.
In fact, it seemed to me that the White Knight was glad to be as far away from the King as he could get. I also noticed he behaved differently than before. Somewhere in the move, he lost his drive, decisiveness and individuality. Over time, he seemed to move away from "energetic engagement" toward "doing his duty" and finally, he moved to "going along and getting along."
During that same time, I also watched the some of the "common" knights who managed small projects for King Arthur. It was clear these knights didn't want to get into the White Knight Predicament. Whenever possible, they avoided tough assignments and if put in one, they tried not to rouse the anger of the peasants. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the knights tried to appease the them. Eventually, mediocrity reigned supreme and "good was good enough."
Interestingly, I also found out the peasants had mixed reactions. They were happy to have found a safe, covert way of "getting back at" knights who managed their tasks in nontraditional styles. The peasants didn't like the fact that the King broke from imbedded traditions. The King should have followed tradition and booted the White Knight out of the kingdom. Some claimed the king was not consistent and not to be trusted. Other's could not understand him and wondered what would happen next. Still others believed that since the king broke his promise, he wasn't really listening to the voice of the people. Ultimately, I studied these confused peasants for some time. They no longer got excited over the King's inspirational pronouncements.
Over the course of time, the King had another high position to fill. The King decided that only the Most-Liked Knights from each province could vie for the position. The most straight-forward approach for the competition was to use the Likability 360° Index from each province. He believed only knights from those provinces were qualified to fill the position. A complicating factor perplexed the king. He was concerned that if anyone knew his decision process, they would tamper with the ratings. As a result, he made sure that he alone was able to see all province and knight ratings. I remember the day he told me of his decision. I tried to suggest an alternative selection process. He was too busy to really listen. I was just his Fool.
After the kingdom-wide assessment was completed, the ratings revealed that of all the provinces, only Rose and Blue provinces had a significant quantity of qualified candidates. The king held an award banquet honoring these two provinces. At the end of the banquet, everyone knew who the king considered the best of the best. As a result, the highest ranking Rose Knight got the position because "Rose Province had the highest average score and surely, the highest rated knight earned the right for the promotion." The king was well satisfied with his innovative solution to the promotion process.
However, the King didn't notice that all knights in Rose Province rated better than any knights in Blue Province. Nor did he consider other knights who were rated higher than the Rose Knight. This caused me much concern. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the King's process was mathematically correct and logically corrupt. The King's process did not take into account province by province differences in the Likability Index. After much meditation, I determined that it is possible the lowest rated provinces might have provided even better candidates.
Over the year, I noticed that Rose Province knights were very pleased at the King's approval. Over this same time period, these knights relaxed more and achieved less. Predictably, Rose Province attracted more knights than it needed. Due to overstaffing, each knight got smaller and more manageable positions. From an outsider's perspective, this tended to keep things rosy on the Index.
During this period, I also noticed quiet conversations between the knights living outside Rose Province. For example, Blue Province knights ridiculed the King for being unfair. They also talked about how the king used the Likability Index and what they could do to get the king's favorable attention. Eventually, these knightly conversations became public within the province and it was decided that next year, the Blue Province would have the highest Likability scores.
I also traveled and listened to knights from the rest of the provinces. They also came to the same conclusions as the knights from Blue Province.
The next assessment produced very high Likability scores throughout the kingdom. Of course, the king was pleased by the results because they confirmed what he already knew. Not long after, the King published the Likability scores in every province. He also used this opportunity to interpret the data and explain how it proved that his leadership made it better for everyone in the kingdom.
Camelot and the 360 Degree Assessment: Part Two
