“There the bells go again !”, thought King Edward as he heard the bells ringing for the nth time during the day. He was just about to sign the most important treaty in the history of his kingdom.
Apologetically he looked into the eyes of his guest, the King of a faraway prosperous kingdom. For the past few days, they had been discussing the possibility of trade between the two kingdoms. But the bells continued to chime their way into the discussion.
His esteemed guest was finding it difficult to conceal his exasperation. After all, he had come all the way from a very distant place. Edward felt that it was his responsibility to give his guest his undivided attention.
Yet each time the bells rang, he had to politely excuse himself.
The first King of the kingdom had installed these bells as a sign of gratitude to his people who elected him. The idea of the bells was that anyone could walk-in and ring them ANYTIME they had a grievance. The ruling king would then resolve the issue immediately.
But over the years, the kingdom had grown and so did the population. The tradition of the bells persisted as a sign of selfless service rendered by all the Kings that ruled.
King Edward, embarrassingly, found these bells to be inconvenient. These bronze instruments would sway to and fro even when he was having his meals and drifting into sleep.
On his deathbed, his father requested Edward to honor the tradition. He said:
“Remember son… Whenever the bells ring, put aside whatever you’re doing and attend to the grievances of your people; for nothing is more important than your subjects.”
But now, Edward was finding it impossible to think, eat or even sleep… peacefully.
Now that you’ve read the story, reflect on these points:
- Is this a problem of Delegation?
- Do you think that the open-door policy (the Bell Ringing policy) needs to change now that the kingdom is bigger?
- Are there any other people in the kingdom who can resolve the grievances?
Want answers to these questions ?
GET IN TOUCH