On a roll with Hercules

Task Six: Killing the Stymphalian Birds

The second half of Hercules' career illustrates the law of diminishing returns for the manager tasked with simply doing more of the same.

Killing the man-eating Stymphalian Birds required a certain amount of cunning to distract this flock of giant storks after which they were easy prey for his poisoned arrows. Inevitably, frustration with his apparently endless set of penances set in. Hercules began to question the purpose of his mission, the futility of his endlessly acquisitive tasks and the weariness in his bones at the end of each notionally successful project. He needed a mid-career time-out. Instead he got an overseas assignment.

Task Seven: Capturing the Cretan Bull

The challenge of capturing the Cretan bull offered Hercules the opportunity to travel to the island of Crete and pit his warrior wits and skills against a savage bull busy terrorizing the streets of Knossos. The showdown was spectacular and brutally efficient with the victory going to the proven turnaround manager. Cowabunga.

One interesting side effect of this successful project was the reaction of King Eurystheus, Hercules’ customer for the performance of all his tasks. The unreliable and frankly intimidated king reacted to his star manager’s latest accomplishment by locking himself away in a brass lined bunker and refusing to have any dealings with the all conquering hero. From now on tasks and targets were communicated by written memo only. The headhunters circled overhead.

Task Eight: Killing the Mares of Diomedes

The notorious man-eating mares of King Diomedes were Hercules’ next target. This was another one-off mission to rid the known world of a declared menace. Hercules settled into battle-hardened project manager mode and hired a team of contractors to carry out the mission.

The ferociously demented horses were successfully subdued by his well directed team and Diomedes was ceremoniously fed to his own carnivorous herd. Harsh but fair.

This task marks Hercules’ ability to delegate and direct operations from a distance. He has grown in stature to the point where his very association with a project all but guarantees its success and where others look to him for both strategic and operational direction. He has become a management brand.