Is BIGGER always Better? Beware the Relentless Pursuit of MORE
April 17, 2013
I love the story about the Harvard MBA who was in Mexico for his company. He saw a small Mexican fishing boat pulling up the dock and one solitary fisherman got out and held four huge fish on a stringer. The Harvard guy was amazed at the quality of the fish. He asked the fisherman, “How long did it take you to catch those?” He said, “About three hours.” “What are you going to do with them?” The fisherman said, “They’re going to feed my family.” The Harvard guy was intrigued and said, “What do you do with the rest of your time?” The fisherman said, “I sleep late. I play with my children, I have a siesta with my wife. I fish for a while then I go to bed.” The business side of this Harvard grad kicked into high gear. He said, “You could work nine hours a day and catch three times the number of fish! Then you could buy a second boat. Teach someone else to catch those quality of fish. You could buy a whole fleet of fishing boats. You could ship your fish to restaurants all over the world. You could move to New York, put your fish catching business on the stock market.” Before he even realized what he was saying the Harvard guy said, “If you work hard enough, long enough you can eventually retire by the coast, sleep late every morning, play with your children.” Hmmm ...
[Source: Sermon by Brad Johnson from Saddleback on When Your Work Doesn't Work (May 2000)]