Bee Merry Co.

by M.S. Choi

Chapter 1: Bee Merry Company

Bee Merry Company is a leading producer of avant-garde honey. Bee Merry Co. has been thriving at an astronomical rate: +12% sales quarter-to-quarter for the past three years. Just crazy growth. Since its humble beginnings, the company has now grown large, alluring flocks of investors to chip in money. The investment has enabled Queen Bee, the “q-bee”, and her relentlessly diligent honeybees to invest in honey production equipment, nectar storage units, and beehive expansion.

The Queen seemed pleased, the investors seemed pleased – everyone seemed pleased. It was soon revealed to be a blessing and a curse.

Chapter 2

This quarter, for the first time in many years, the sales growth was a “measly” +0.5%. Investors called the growth “measly”, but Bee Merry Co. is one of the few that managed to keep its head above the water. In fact, half of the other beehives just filed bankruptcy.

Nonetheless, shareholders were not pleased. Shareholders were too used to continued growth. To these shareholders, staying afloat, slowed growth, shrunk size… all manifested as a signal of stagnation.

Investors asked the Q-bee what she plans to do. Q-bee remained calm, but to address hundreds of thousands of investors was no joke. And the shareholders. And the media. Everyone badly craved for shiny, happy numbers. Those were the only numbers everyone has seen. Inevitably, Queen Bee’s calmness gradually turned into a whirlwind of uneasiness and anxiety.

Queen Bee could do nothing but to reluctantly reiterate with a qualified optimism, that “the company has a bright future.”

Chapter 3

Later in the same day, the Queen Bee gathered everyone. To continue the trend of “happy” growth, cutting nonessential parts of operations was essential.

The company congregated again in a few days.

Chapter 4

There was a huge crowd. Everyone knew the continued growth and the “impact” (whatever that meant) were pivotal to company’s “happiness” (again whatever that meant).

During the meeting, each representative bee from each department stepped forward. Each bee’s job was to speak proudly and confidently to each team’s splendid, jaw-dropping accomplishments. This was pivotal for the team’s visibility, reputation, their impact, and – indirectly – their survival.

Nectar innovation team stepped up first, “this year, our team introduced a bright orange-colored honey, supplementing the traditional regular orange-colored honey.” The representing bee continued, “this new pigment has driven $700M in sales this year.”

The board and the investors were blinded by the shiny numbers. Investors nodded fervently and whispered among themselves with optimism. There were two questions from the crowd – the first question was rather peripheral. The second question arose from a skeptical audience, who angrily discounted the validity of the “$700M”. However, investors and the board were both happy; and their happiness was the only valid happiness in the room.

Honey packaging team stepped up next. “We the honey packaging team…” the honey packaging head continued, “

Then followed other teams, such as ‘human-bee relations team’, who likewise shared numbers that excited the crowd. Every team

Finally, the larvae team head stepped in.

“We have hatched and nurtured thousands of newborn bees, our next generation of honey-makers.”

“Okay, thank you,” VP-bee commented, “but what’s the impact?”

Larvae head thought to himself, “Seriously? You want to put g**damn numbers for these newborns?” But that would be an unacceptable etiquette that would ruin the congregational glee, so he had to push aside his emotions.

Chapter 5

The next morning, the q-bee noticed a resignation letter slipped under the door. It was from an e-bee, an engineering bee who stuck with the company the longest (40 bee-years, to be precise).

q-bee asked the e-bee to come up to her chamber.

Chapter 6

The e-bee entered the chamber of q-bee, who sat in her chair curious, anguished, and exhausted.

“So, tell me why you are leaving,” asked the q-bee.

e-bee guffawed, “Please! What do you want to know?”

“Our sales might have dropped this year, but look how far we have come. This is THE happiest place that you could work at.“

e-bee: “I am concerned about you. Are you fawning your happiness?”

q-bee sat astounded by e-bee’s comment.

e-bee: “Why don’t you ship crates of larvae off if doing so is profitable?”

q-bee: “You are quite dashing this morning.“

e-bee: “Okay, so it seems like there are untouchable boundaries.“

q-bee: “…”

e-bee: “Let me ask you a question,” e-bee paused, “What does the company exactly need the money for?”

……..

e-bee: “I am not here to have some capitalism vs. socialism argument. Profit, I get that – the company starves without it.” e-bee, organizing his thoughts, continued, “But I walk into many meetings – many, many of which are utterly unnecessary, I think – to ONLY hear people talking about, (a) how much can we make, and (b) how quick we can do things around.“

q-bee tried hard understanding where e-bee’s

e-bee: “We are bees. And I am an engineer. I am not

q-bee: “Are you saying that I do not understand engineers because I somehow sat in my queen chamber for my whole life?”

e-bee, chuckling, replied, “Hah, that won’t be fair. That’d be nonsense. I don’t expect you to build stuff.”

e-bee continued, “…but your job isn’t making lumps of cash drizzle off of our hive. Your job is to oversee the larvae.”

“And I can’t say it nicely. I am a blunt bee. Yesterday, sadly and ironically, you killed exactly what you were supposed to do.”

“You might be great at what you do, but you aren’t quite good at who you’re supposed to be.”

It was not hard for q-bee to feel how heavy the air was. At that point, q-bee exuded none of anger, frustration, or (ANY OF THE

q-bee collected her breath, “let me ask you then,” q-bee asked cautiously, “when did things start going off?”

e-bee had to think

q-bee asked “When?”

“…since

q-bee: “How?”

e-bee: “You know, throughout my 30 bee-years of my engineering career, there surely were ups and downs. It’s natural – you have sunny days, and you have cloudy days. And my sunny days could be your cloudy days, and your cloudy days could be some other bee’s day full of insurmountable snowstorm.”

…so, how is it that the company expects us to be happy, lofty, full of rainbows, honeys drizzling, …, whatever. Sure, nobody will put a gun against our heads to smile forcibly at all times. But this is absurd. If we have

Chapter 7

The following week, massive waves of layoffs began. Ultimately, half of others were let go too, leaving the queen by herself.

And nobody knew who the Bee Merry Co. was anymore. Other bees knew what the company did – but little was known what it really was. Then there was a big flood, which readily engulfed the whole beehive and wiped it off the face of the earth. Now Bee Merry Co. has been rendered history.