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  • 1.  Food for thought, or Motivation, anyone?

    Posted 05-05-1999 20:22
    I was sent this. It has been around, I'm sure. But if you believe in
    irony, ther eis some here. What were we discussing about motivation,
    and how to instill it?

    Jay

    Food for Thought:

    The American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican
    village
    when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat
    were
    several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on
    the
    quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

    The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why
    didn't
    he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough
    to
    support his family's immediate needs.

    The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?

    The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my
    children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each
    evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full
    and
    busy life, senior."

    The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should

    spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat with the

    proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually
    you
    would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a

    middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening
    your
    own cannery. You would control the product, processing and
    distribution. You
    would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to
    Mexico
    City, then LA and eventually New York City where you will run your
    expanding
    enterprise."


    The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senior, how long will this all take?"

    To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

    "But what then, senior?"

    The American laughed and said that's the best part. When the time is
    right
    you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and
    become very rich, you would make millions.

    "Millions, senior? Then what?"

    The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal
    fishing
    village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids,
    take
    siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you
    could
    sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
    --
    Jay Warner
    Principal Scientist
    Warner Consulting, Inc.
    4444 North Green Bay Road
    Racine, WI 53404-1216
    USA

    Ph: (414) 634-9100
    FAX: (414) 681-1133
    email: quality@a2q.com
    web: http://www.a2q.com

    Power to the data!


  • 2.  Food for thought, or Motivation, anyone?

    Posted 05-08-1999 02:18
    At 07:21 PM 05-05-99 -0500, Jay wrote:
    > What were we discussing about motivation,
    >and how to instill it?
    >The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should
    >spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat with the
    >proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, --------

    I am not a Harvard MBA, and I would have told the fisherman, "Then you
    would be in a position to give employment to many of your amigos, build
    schools in your little town so that little kids can learn to read and write
    and then they will be able to read nice little stories whcih can amuse
    them, you will be able to build hospitals where your amigos can get
    treatment so that they can live linger and enjoy your company, you will be
    able to distribute guitars to all those who want to try to play them, you
    will be able to build very nice stadiums where your kids can play soccer,
    ----------"

    Ram
    Bangalore, India