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last activity : 06 23 2011 09:46:33 +0000
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Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who is faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he’d sit under a tree and relax before resuming the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as an undisputed Champion.
This is the version of the story we’ve all grown up with. The moral of the story is slow and steady wins the race.
The story continues…. The hare was disappointed at losing the race and did some soul searching. He realized that he’d lost the race only because he was overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there’s no way the tortoise could have beaten him.
So he challenged the tortoise for another race and the tortoise agreed. This time the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish and won by several miles.
The moral of the story… Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organization, one slow, methodical and reliable and the other, fast and reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organizational ladder.
But the story doesn’t end here…. The tortoise did some thinking this time and realized that there’s no way he can beat the hare in a race, in the current format. He thought for a while and challenged the race for another race but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed.
They started off. In keeping with his self made commitment to be consistent and fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broader river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.
The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.
The moral of the story… First identify your core competency and change the playing field to suit your core competency. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story has not come to an end yet…. The hare and tortoise became friend by this time and did some good thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been much better. They decided to run the race again but this time as a team.
They started off the race and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the river bank. There the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on its back. On the opposite bank the hare carried the tortoise and reached the finishing line together.
The moral of the story…. It is good to be individually brilliant and to have core competencies; but unless you’re able to work in a team and harness each other’s core competencies you’ll always perform below par because there will be situations at which you’ll do poorly and someone else does well.
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca Cola in the 1980’s he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke’s growth. His executives were Pepsi focused and intent on increasing its market share.
He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of Americans per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke’s share? Two ounces. The competition was not Pepsi. It was the water, coffee, tea, milk and fruit juices. The public should reach Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.
To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.
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Vinoy Ji a learned and pragmatic person should not have joined the debate on the wrong side. Let us give the fair sex, the freedom, security and support and see what happens. Nothing is going to change in a day! Let us support them for their fight in... |
In India - Religion must stay away from politics. No place for religion or religious gurus in politics. No second thought about it !! |
I am not fluent in Hindi. Being a Sanskrit student (in my child-hood days) I am able to read it and grasp the essence of it. Good and nice poem !! |