The Chicken and the Pig

The fable of The Chicken and the Pig is about commitment to a project or cause.

Contents

Content

The basic fable runs:

A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road. The Chicken says, "Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!". Pig replies, "Hm, maybe, what would we call it?". The Chicken responds, "How about 'ham-n-eggs'?".
The Pig thinks for a moment and says, "No thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved!"[1]

Sometimes, the story is presented as a riddle:

Question: In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what's the difference between the Chicken and the Pig?
Answer: The Chicken is involved, but the Pig is committed!

Interpretation and lessons

Analogies

Agile project management

The fable is referenced to define two types of project members by the scrum agile management system[2]: pigs, who are totally committed to the project and accountable for its outcome, and chickens, who consult on the project and are informed of its progress. By extension, a rooster, or gamecock, can be defined as a person who struts around offering uninformed, unhelpful opinions.

A successful project needs both chickens and pigs (roosters are seen as unproductive). However, given the sacrifice required of being a pig—forswearing other projects and opportunities—they can be difficult to collect. Thus, the construction of a successful project-team must ensure that the project has sufficient "pigs" and that they are empowered to drive the project in return for committing to and taking accountability for it.

Sports

The fable also is used as an analogy for levels of commitment to a game, team etc. For example, variations[3] of this quote have been attributed to football coach Mike Leach:

On the officials in the 2007 Tech-Texas game in Austin:
"It's a little like breakfast; you eat ham and eggs. As coaches and players, we're like the ham. You see, the chicken's involved but the pig's committed. We're like the pig, they're like the chicken. They're involved, but everything we have rides on this."[4]

References

  1. ^ Chicken and Pig
  2. ^ C. P. PURI (2009), Agile Management: Feature Driven Development, Global India Publications, http://books.google.com/books?id=BmVzlGA1dFIC&lpg=PA39 
  3. ^ http://www.irontrybe.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-60332.html
  4. ^ Leachisms: Quotes From the Pirate King. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/78729-leachisms-quotes-from-the-pirate-king

External links