The Businessman and the fisherman story

(Ambition, wealth creation, change for change's sake, purpose of life, work and
fulfillment)

A management consultant, on holiday in a African fishing

village, watched a little fishing boat dock at the quayside.
Noting the quality of the fish, the consultant asked the
fisherman how long it had taken to catch them.
"Not very long." answered the fisherman.
"Then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"
asked the consultant.
The fisherman explained that his small catch was
sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The consultant asked, "But what do you do with the rest
of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, have an
afternoon's rest under a coconut tree. In the evenings, I
go into the community hall to see my friends, have a few
beers, play the drums, and sing a few songs..... I have a
full and happy life." replied the fisherman.
The consultant ventured, "I have an MBA from Harvard
and I can help you...... You should start by fishing longer
every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With
the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a
second one and a third one and so on until you have a
large fleet. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman,
you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and
maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave
this little village and move to a city here or maybe even
in the United Kingdom, from where you can direct your
huge enterprise."
"How long would that take?" asked the fisherman?
"Oh, ten, maybe twenty years." replied the consultant.
"And after that?" asked the fisherman.
"After that? That's when it gets really interesting,"
answered the consultant, laughing, "When your business
gets really big, you can start selling shares in your
company and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" pressed the
fisherman.
"After that you'll be able to retire, move out to a small
village by the sea, sleep in late every day, spend time
with your family, go fishing, take afternoon naps under a
coconut tree, and spend relaxing evenings having drink
with friends..."
 The Owl and the field-mouse story
(Executive policy-making, theory versus practice)

A little field-mouse was lost in a dense wood, unable to

find his way out. He came upon a wise old owl sitting in a
tree. "Please help me, wise old owl, how can I get out of
this wood?" said the field-mouse.
"Easy," said the owl, "Grow wings and fly out, as I do."
"But how can I grow wings?" asked the mouse.
The owl looked at him haughtily, sniffed disdainfully, and
said, "Don't bother me with the details, I only decide the
policy."

The "It will for that one" story

(Making a difference, compassion, social responsibility)

A small boy was walking along a beach at low tide, where

countless thousands of small sea creatures, having been
washed up, were stranded and doomed to perish. A man
watched as the boy picked up individual creatures and
took them back into the water.
"I can see you're being very kind," said the watching
man, "But there must be a million of them; it can't
possibly make any difference."
Returning from the water's edge, the boy said, "It will for
that one."
 The Human resources story
(Keeping promises, employment standards)

A highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically

knocked down by a bus and killed. Her soul arrived at the Pearly
Gates, where St. Peter welcomed her:
"Before you get settled in," he said, "We have a little problem...
you see, we've never had a Human Resources Manager make it
this far before and we're not really sure what to do with you."
"Oh, I see," said the woman. "Can't you just let me in?"
"Well, I'd like to," said St Peter, "But I have higher orders. We're
instructed to let you have a day in hell and a day in heaven, and
then you are to choose where you'd like to go for all eternity."
"Actually, I think I'd prefer heaven", said the woman.
"Sorry, we have rules..." at which St. Peter put the HR Manager
into the downward bound elevator.
As the doors opened in hell she stepped out onto a beautiful
golf course. In the distance was a country club; around her
were many friends - past fellow executives, all smartly dressed,
happy, and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on
both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played a
perfect round of golf and afterwards went to the country club
where she enjoyed a superb steak and lobster dinner. She met
the Devil, who was actually rather nice, and she had a
wonderful night telling jokes and dancing. Before she knew it, it
was time to leave; everyone shook her hand and waved
goodbye as she stepped into the elevator. The elevator went
back up to heaven where St. Peter was waiting for her.
"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said.
So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and
playing the harp and singing, which was almost as enjoyable as
her day in hell. At the day's end St Peter returned.
"So," he said, "You've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day
in heaven. You must choose between the two."
The woman thought for a second and replied, "Well, heaven is
certainly lovely, but I actually had a better time in hell. I choose
hell."
Accordingly, St. Peter took her to the elevator again and she
went back down to hell.
When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself
standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth.
She saw her friends dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and
putting it in old sacks. The Devil approached and put his arm
around her.
"I don't understand," stuttered the HR Manager, "Yesterday I
was here, and there was a golf course, and a country club, and
we ate lobster, and we danced and had a wonderful happy
time. Now all there's just a dirty wasteland of garbage and all
my friends look miserable." The Devil looked at her and smiled.
"Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're staff."
 The Blind man and the advertising story
(Words, language, connecting with and moving people)

An old blind man was sitting on a busy street corner in

the rush-hour begging for money. On a cardboard sign,
next to an empty tin cup, he had written: 'Blind - Please
help'.

No-one was giving him any money.

A young advertising writer walked past and saw the blind

man with his sign and empty cup, and also saw the many
people passing by completely unmoved, let alone
stopping to give money.

The advertising writer took a thick marker-pen from her

pocket, turned the cardboard sheet back-to-front, and
re-wrote the sign, then went on her way.
Immediately, people began putting money into the tin
cup.

After a while, when the cup was overflowing, the blind

man asked a stranger to tell him what the sign now said.
"It says," said the stranger, "It's a beautiful day. You can
see it. I cannot.' "
 The Gandhi shoe story
(Selfless compassion, generosity without strings)

Mohandas [Mahatma] Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948),

the great Indian statesman and spiritual leader is noted
for his unusual humanity and selflessness, which this
story epitomises. Gandhi was boarding a train one day
with a number of companions and followers, when his
shoe fell from his foot and disappeared in the gap
between the train and platform. Unable to retrieve it, he
took off his other shoe and threw it down by the first.
Responding to the puzzlement of his fellow travellers,
Gandhi explained that a poor person who finds a single
shoe is no better off - what's really helpful is finding a
pair.
 The Stranger and the Gingernuts story
(Making assumptions, think before you act, different perspectives)

At the airport after a tiring business trip a lady's return

flight was delayed. She went to the airport shop, bought
a book, a coffee and a small packet containing five
gingernut biscuits. The airport was crowded and she
found a seat in the lounge, next to a stranger. After a few
minutes' reading she became absorbed in her book. She
took a biscuit from the packet and began to drink her
coffee. To her great surprise, the stranger in the next
seat calmly took one of the biscuits and ate it. Stunned,
she couldn't bring herself to say anything, nor even to
look at the stranger. Nervously she continued reading.
After a few minutes she slowly picked up and ate the
third biscuit. Incredibly, the stranger took the fourth
gingernut and ate it, then to the woman's amazement;
he picked up the packet and offered her the last biscuit.
This being too much to tolerate, the lady angrily picked
up her belongings, gave the stranger an indignant scowl
and marched off to the boarding gate, where her flight
was now ready. Flustered and enraged, she reached
inside her bag for her boarding ticket, and found her
unopened packet of gingernuts...
 The Fish baking story
(To challenge belief systems and assumptions, and illustrate pointless routine and the
need for questioning)

A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for

dinner. Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and
then placed it into a baking pan. The little girl asked her
mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish. Her
mother thought for a while and then said, "I've always
done it that way - that's how babicka (Czech for
grandma) did it."
Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit
her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off
the fish before baking it.
Grandma thought for a while and replied, "I don't know.
My mother always did it that way."
So the little girl and the grandma went to visit great
grandma to find ask if she knew the answer. Great
grandma thought for a while and said, “Because my
baking pan was too small to fit in the whole fish”.
 The Rat and the Lion story
(Do good, what goes around comes around, karma)

One day without knowing it, a small rat found itself

between the paws of a huge sleeping lion, which
immediately awoke and seized the rat. The rat pleaded
with the fierce beast to be set free, and the lion, being
very noble and wise, and in no need of such small prey,
agreed to let the relieved rat go on his way.
Some days later in the same part of the forest, a hunter
had laid a trap for the lion, and it duly caught him, so that
the lion was trussed up in a strong net, helpless, with
nothing to do than wait for the hunter to return.
But it was the rat that came along next, and seeing the
lion in need of help, promptly set about biting and
gnawing through the net, which soon began to unravel,
setting the great lion free. The moral of the story is of
course to make the world your debtor - even the
humblest of folk may one day be of use.
 The Butterfly story
(Coaching, teaching, enabling, facilitating, interventions)

A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small

opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for
several hours as it struggled to force its body through the
little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It
appeared stuck.
The man decided to help the butterfly and with a pair of
scissors he cut open the cocoon. The butterfly then
emerged easily. Something was strange. The butterfly
had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man
watched the butterfly expecting it to take on its correct
proportions. But nothing changed.
The butterfly stayed the same. It was never able to fly. In
his kindness and haste the man did not realize that the
butterfly's struggle to get through the small opening of
the cocoon is nature's way of forcing fluid from the body
of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready
for flight.
Like the sapling which grows strong from being buffeted
by the wind, in life we all need to struggle sometimes to
make us strong. When we coach and teach others it is
helpful to recognize when people need to do things for
themselves.
 The Get in the wheelbarrow story
(Belief, trust, faith, commitment, courage, conviction)

The story goes: upon completing a highly dangerous

tightrope walk over Niagara Falls in appalling wind and
rain, 'The Great Zumbrati' was met by an enthusiastic
supporter, who urged him to make a return trip, this
time pushing a wheelbarrow, which the spectator had
thoughtfully brought along.
The Great Zumbrati was reluctant, given the terrible
conditions, but the supporter pressed him, "You can do it
- I know you can," he urged.
"You really believe I can do it?" asked Zumbrati.
"Yes - definitely - you can do it." the supporter gushed.
"Okay," said Zumbrati, "Get in the wheelbarrow..."
 The balloon story
(Business, IT, humour, funny business story)

A man in a hot air balloon is lost. He sees a man on the

ground and reduces height to speak to him.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"
"You're in a hot air balloon hovering thirty feet above this
field," comes the reply.
"You must work in Information Technology," says the
balloonist.
"I do," says the man, "How did you know?"
"Well," says the balloonist, "Everything you told me is
technically correct, but it's no use to anyone."
"You must be in business," says the man.
"I am," says the balloonist, "How did you know?"
"Well," says the man, "You don't know where you are,
you don't know where you're going, but you expect me
to be able to help. You're in the same position you were
before we met, but now it's my fault."
 The school story
(Attendance, sickness, responsibility, parenting, and various other uses)

A mother repeatedly called upstairs for her son to get up,

get dressed and get ready for school. It was a familiar
routine, especially at exam time.
"I feel sick," said the voice from the bedroom.
"You are not sick. Get up and get ready," called the
mother, walking up the stairs and hovering outside the
bedroom door.
"I hate school and I'm not going," said the voice from the
bedroom, "I'm always getting things wrong, making
mistakes and getting told off. Nobody likes me, and I've
got no friends. And we have too many tests and they are
too confusing. It's all just pointless, and I'm not going to
school ever again."
"I'm sorry, but you are going to school," said the mother
through the door, continuing encouragingly, "Really,
mistakes are how we learn and develop. And please try
not to take criticism so personally. And I can't believe
that nobody likes you - you have lots of friends at school.
And yes, all those tests can be confusing, but we are all
tested in many ways throughout our lives, so all of this
experience at school is useful for life in general. Besides,
you have to go, you are the head-teacher."