Little Bo Peep approached the secluded valley with trepidation.  The valley was the Farmer's residence, and it was time for Bo Peep's performance evaluation.  The lost sheep incident still weighed heavily on her mind.  She mustered up her courage, took firm hold of her shepherd's crook, and tapped on a tree.
    "Well, hi-ho, the derry-o!" exclaimed the Farmer. "It's Little Bo Peep!  Come in, come in!"
    But his good cheer soon faded.
    "I've been very disappointed in your performance this quarter, Bo," he scowled. "I'm afraid I'll have to give you an unsatisfactory performance rating.  Ok, I'm not  really afraid.  More like pleased ..."
    "I'm sorry you feel that way," gulped Bo. "About the lost sheep ..."
    "I specifically ordered you to deliver them up for market."
    "I left them alone.  That's what all  the professional shepherding experts suggest ..." Bo explained.
    "But you wouldn't do it!"
    "And they did come home, wagging their tails behind them.  But about half of them were missing."
    The Farmer looked at her with exasperation.  "Well, of course half of them were missing!  When you wouldn't live up to your obligations as a shepherd, I had to cull the sheep out myself.  That was a waste of upper management resources.  You're supposed to do the dirty work!  Why do you think I hired you?"
    "So, that's what happened to my sheep ..."
    "Right," said the Farmer. "And since you can't be trusted to slaughter your own sheep, I'm removing you from your job as shepherd."
    "Oh, dear!" cried Bo Peep. "You're firing me?"
    "No, no," said the Farmer reassuringly. "Not yet.  I mean, of course I'm not firing you.  I'm reassigning you."
    "Reassigning me?" asked Bo Peep suspiciously.
    "Yes!  To tuffet duty.  I had to let Miss Muffett go.  She's too squeamish about spiders.  So you take over all the tuffet maintenance, curds and whey management, and spider control."
    "But who's going to take care of my sheep?" asked Bo Peep.
    "We're getting the Big, Bad Wolf," said the Farmer.
    "Are you sure that's ... wise?" ventured Bo Peep.
    "Absolutely," said the Farmer. "A shepherd needs to be passionate about killing sheep."
    "Well, at least, the little pigs should be relieved."
    "No, not that Big, Bad Wolf," said the Farmer. "He wanted too much.  This is the one from Little Red Riding Hood.  But I hope you know how much trouble you've caused!"
    "Uh, trouble?" peeped Bo Peep. "What kind of trouble?"
    "We'll have to rewrite all the nursery rhymes, for starters," groused the Farmer. "Consider this:

                    Little Bo Peep
                    Sat in a jeep
                    Eating her curds and whey ..."

    "Yuck," said Bo Peep. "I hate curds and whey ..."
    The Farmer scowled.
    "But I can learn ..."
    "Never mind!" said the Farmer. "We can work that out later.  I'm putting you on a Performance Improvement Plan, or PIP.  You have 90 days to improve your performance, or you're out!  But don't worry!  It's all very scientific and well thought out.  You have clear objectives to meet, and either you meet them, or khhhht!"  He drew his forefinger across his throat.
    "So, what are these objectives?" asked Bo Peep.
    "Well, since your biggest weakness is a distaste for delivering sheep for slaughter, you will have to demonstrate that you can do that."
    "Ah.  And I will have sheep in my charge, then?"
    "Absolutely not.  It'll be all tuffets, curds, and whey for you.  You can't be trusted with sheep."
    Bo Peep scratched her head.  "So, how can I meet this objective?"
    "You can't," said the Farmer.
    "So, what happens when I don't meet it?"
    "You get fired, of course."
    "But that isn't fair!" protested Bo Peep.
    "Sure it is!" replied the Farmer.  "It's all very logical.  You failed to deliver your sheep for slaughter.  That was the unsatisfactory performance.  To rectify your performance, you have to deliver sheep for slaughter.  That makes sense, doesn't it?  So, that is written into your PIP.  What can be fairer or more logical?"
    "But I don't herd sheep anymore," Bo Peep objected.
    "Of course not," said the Farmer. "You've proven you can't be trusted with sheep."
    "Why do you even want me doing the tuffet stuff, if you're just planning to file me in three months?"
    "I'm not planning to fire you," said the Farmer. "Did I say I was planning to fire you?  No, I'm putting you on a PIP.  All you have to do is meet your objectives."
    "But you won't let me.  Instead, I have to do ... tuffets."
    "Oh, yes," said the Farmer. "Tuffets and ... Did I tell you about training your replacements?"
    "Replacements?"
    "Oh, yes," said the Farmer again. "I've found some cheap nursery rhyme characters in India that will do this for a fraction of what you cost.  But they don't know anything about tuffets yet."