Two stories you could use for training sessions

Here are two stories you could use for your training sessions or presentations of
suitable contexts:

1.Turtles

A turtle family went on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow

about things, took seven years to prepare for their outings. Finally
the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place.

During the second year of their journey they found it. For about six
months, they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket and
completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the
salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After
a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the
salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving
turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He
agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he
returned.

The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five
years...six years...then in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest
turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was
going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich.

At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree
shouting, SEE I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get
the salt.

About the story

Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our

expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we
don't do anything ourselves.

2.Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could
use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the
man where he could get so many frog legs!

The farmer replied, There is a pond near my house that is full of

frogs-millions of them. They croak all during the night and are about
to drive me crazy!

So the restaurant and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer
would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time for the
next several weeks.
The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather
sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said,
Well...where are all the frogs?

The farmer said, I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the
pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!

About the story

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you,

remember it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also-remember that problems
always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night
worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming-like a million
frogs croaking?

Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a
closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Two stories you could use for training sessions

Here are two stories you could use for your training sessions or presentations of
suitable contexts:

1.Turtles

A turtle family went on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow

about things, took seven years to prepare for their outings. Finally
the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place.

During the second year of their journey they found it. For about six
months, they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket and
completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the
salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After
a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the
salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving
turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He
agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he
returned.

The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five
years...six years...then in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest
turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was
going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich.

At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree
shouting, SEE I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get
the salt.

About the story

Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our

expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we
don't do anything ourselves.

2.Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could
use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the
man where he could get so many frog legs!

The farmer replied, There is a pond near my house that is full of

frogs-millions of them. They croak all during the night and are about
to drive me crazy!

So the restaurant and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer
would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time for the
next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather
sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said,
Well...where are all the frogs?

The farmer said, I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the
pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!

About the story

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you,

remember it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also-remember that problems
always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night
worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming-like a million
frogs croaking?

Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a
closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

A little bird was flying south for the Winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the

ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he

was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the

cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate

him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!

**********************************

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and

asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”

The eagle answered, “Sure , why not.”

So the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.

All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very

high up.

**********************************

A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,”

sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.”

“Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull.

“They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to

reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was

promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

When you look at me, what do you see?

A fable from the East tells of an emperor and a zen monk who came face to face for the
first time. The emperor ruled over a kingdom that practiced Buddhism and the monk was
eager to meet with him, looking forward to sharing tales of enlightenment.

But when they met, the emperor decided to test the monk by saying to him: “When you
look at me, what do you see?”

“I see a Buddha,” answered the monk. And what do you see when you look at me?”

“I see a pig!” countered the emperor. Waiting to see the monk’s reaction, he said no
more.

The monk pondered for a moment, then said:

“A Buddha sees a Buddha; a pig sees a pig!”

Sep 23rd 2009 05:02 pm

What determines the strength of a wheel?

An ancient Chinese story, retold by Phil Jackson, coach of the phenomenally successful
Chicago Bulls basketball team, makes this point rather more emphatically. In the 3rd
century BC, the Chinese emperor Liu Bang celebrated his consolidation of China with a
banquet, where he sat surrounded by his nobles and military and political experts. Since
Liu Bang was neither noble by birth nor an expert in military or political affairs, some of
the guests asked one of the military experts, Chen Cen, why Liu Bang was the emperor.
In a contemporary setting, the question would probably have been: “What added value
does Liu Bang bring to the party?” Chen Cen’s response was to ask the questioner a
question in return: “What determines the strength of a wheel?” One guest suggested that
the strength of the wheel was in its spokes, but Chen Cen countered that two sets of
spokes of identical strength did not necessarily make wheels of identical strength. On the
contrary, the strength was also affected by the spaces between the spokes, and
determining the spaces was the true art of the wheelwright. Thus, while the spokes
represent the collective resources necessary to an organization’s success-and the
resources that the leader lacks-the spaces represent the autonomy for followers to grow
into leaders themselves. In sum, holding together the diversity of talents necessary for
organizational success is what distinguishes a successful leader from an unsuccessful
one: Leaders don’t need to be perfect, but they do have to recognize that their own
limitations will ultimately doom them to failure unless they rely upon their subordinate
leaders and followers to fill in the gaps.

Sep 15th 2009

Sell What the Customer Needs

A sales manager was deciding which of two salespeople to recruit. Passing over a ball
point pen, he said, “Sell me one of these.” The first salesperson took the pen, examined it
and said, “This is a very good pen. You will note the transparent barrel which indicates
the color of the ink as well as showing when it is about to run out. There is a stopper at
the end to prevent the ink seeping out. The top fits well on the pen and covers the nib so
that you can clip it in your inside pocket without fearing ink will stain your shirt. When
you remove the top, it fits neatly on the other end so ensuring that you do not lose it. It
also balances the pen well for writing.”

The sales manager was impressed and passed the pen to the second salesperson. He took
it, snapped it in half and said, “You need a new pen.”

Jul 11th 2009 07:41 pm

Stephen Covey’s Big Rocks

An exercise and known as ‘Stephen Covey’s Big Rocks’. Imagine a bucket. Put three or
four big rocks in. “Is the bucket full? ” “No” you reply. “Of course not” I say and put
some smaller rocks in it to fill in the gaps. “Full now? “, “No”. I put in some sand, then
some water. It’s full.

So, what’s the learning here? It’s to do with the order. What would happen if you’d
reversed the order? Put the water in first, then the sand, then the small rocks. There would
be no room for the big rocks. These big rocks are the important things in your life. You
need to schedule them first, not try to squeeze them in after arranging the water (writing
pointless reports), sand (unnecessary travel) or small rocks (staff meetings where no-one
listens and everyone looks at the clock).

What are the big rocks in your life? For many it’s things like family, time to watch the
children grow up, time to write that novel, time for themselves, time to make a
difference. You decide. You identify 3 or 4 things you believe are important. The 3 or 4
things that will make a difference at your funeral.
May 16th 2009 05:12 pm

An Experiment in Learning
In this experiment, five monkeys are put into a large cage. There’s a stool in the middle
of the cage and a banana is hung from the ceiling above the stool. Outside the cage, an
observer has a hose filled with ice water. It hardly needs mentioning that monkeys like
bananas better than ice cold showers.

Within a few minutes, the most daring of the monkeys climbs on the stool to get the
banana. This effort immediately engenders an ice cold shower for all of the monkeys.
Several minutes later, another monkey tries, with the same result. The monkeys quickly
learn the relationship between “get on the stool” and “an ice cold shower” and choose a
way to protect themselves. As soon as one monkey even tries to go near the stool, the
other four jump on him, screaming and gesticulating, to stop him before the observer gets
the “signal” to spray them all with ice water.

Some time and several fights later, all the monkeys have learned the rule, and become
quickly indifferent to the stool, as if it weren’t even there. The defensive tactic they had
imagined becomes superfluous. The banana stays where it is, safe and sound on the
ceiling. Life in the cage is organized around this new reality.

At this point in the experiment, the observer takes out one of the monkeys and replaces
him with a new monkey (one that doesn’t know anything about the cold shower). The
new monkey immediately climbs on the stool to get the banana, and after a moment’s
hesitation, the four others jump on him. The new monkey learns a quick lesson, without
any action on the part of observer. The ice cold shower is no longer necessary, and the
banana rots nicely on the ceiling.

The experiment continues. Each of the original four monkeys are replaced, one after
another, exactly like the first replacement. Each time, the scene repeats itself: the new
one tries to climb on the stool, is jumped on by the four others, until they are sure he has
learned his lesson.

The rule “no one should climb on the stool” is a lesson that new monkeys learn in this
group that is specific to this group and to no other.

In the end, none of the five monkeys knows why they should not get on the stool, yet they
defend the law with more vehemence than the original five. No one knows that, in fact, it
was a quite effective way to avoid getting an ice cold shower. None of the new monkeys
ever got the ice cold shower. They were stopped before the shower came. Even though
the original reason has disappeared, the rule has become a norm for this group. A self-
perpetuating norm, kept in place by interactions, and never questioned.