A frog decided to
reach the top of the tree. All the frogs shouted, it's impossible , it's
impossible.
Still the frog
reaches the top.
How?
He was deaf.
And he thought
everyone was encouraging him to reach the top.
Moral:
Be deaf to negative
thoughts, if your aim is to reach your goals.
One night four college kids stayed out late, partying and having a good time. They paid no mind to the test they had scheduled for the next day and didn’t study. In the morning, they hatched a plan to get out of taking their test. They covered themselves with grease and dirt and went to the Dean’s office. Once there, they said they had been to a wedding the previous night and on the way back they got a flat tire and had to push the car back to campus.
The Dean listened to their tale of woe and thought. He offered them a retest three days later. They thanked him and accepted his offer that time.
When the test day arrived, they went to the Dean. The Dean put them all in separate rooms for the test. They were fine with this since they had all studied hard. Then they saw the test. It had 2 questions.
1) Your Name __________ (1 Points)
2) Which tire burst? __________ (99 Points)
Options – (a) Front Left (b) Front Right (c) Back Left (d) Back Right
The lesson: always be responsible and make wise decisions.
There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting the right amount, which he wasn’t. Angry about this, he took the farmer to court.
“Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”
There is a story told
of the great Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski. It perfectly highlights
the power of teamwork and our dependence on each other.
A mother, who wanted
to encourage her young son to continue playing the piano, bought tickets and
took her son to a performance of the great pianist Ignace Paderewski.
They took their seats
near the front of the concert hall the evening of the performance and eyed the
majestic Steinway waiting on stage for the great pianist to begin.
Soon the mother found
an old friend to talk to and didn’t notice that her boy had slipped away.
On the hour the
lights in the hall began to dim and the spotlights came on. It was at that
moment the little boy’s mother noticed him up on piano bench hammering out
“Chopsticks.”
She was shocked and
embarrassed, but it was too late to hurry up and get him as the Master of the
night appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard where her little
boy was focused in on his own masterpiece.
Paderewski gently
whispered to the boy, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Leaning over, he reached down
with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm
reached around the boy and improvised a delightful enhanced melody.
Together, the old
master and the young beginning pianist mesmerized the audience with their
blended and beautiful music.
Teams kind of work
this way don’t they?
The novice to the
expert on great teams work together to accomplish extraordinary things. There
is little of what we do on teams that doesn’t require some type of help from
someone. We can’t succeed without the help of others. Whether that is depending
on someone to complete something for you, asking for a hand on something,
asking a question, or simply working together – we need each other on teams!
High in the Himalayan
mountains lived a wise old man.
Periodically, he
ventured down into the local village to entertain the villagers with his
special knowledge and talents. One of his skills was to “psychically” tell the
villagers the contents in their pockets, boxes, or minds.
A few young boys from
the village decided to play a joke on the wise old man and discredit his
special abilities.
One boy came up with
the idea to capture a bird and hide it in his hands. He knew of course, the
wise old man would know the object in his hands was a bird.
The boy devised a
plan.
Knowing the wise old
man would correctly state the object in his hands was a bird, the boy would ask
the old man if the bird was dead or alive. If the wise man said the bird was
alive, the boy would crush the bird in his hands, so that when he opened his
hands the bird would be dead; if the wise man said the bird was dead, the boy
would open his hands and let the bird fly free. So no matter what the old man
said, the boy would prove the old man a fraud.
The following week,
the wise old man came down from the mountain into the village. The boy quickly
caught a bird and cupping it out of sight in his hands, walked up to the wise
old man and asked, ” Old man, old man, what is it that I have in my hands?”
The wise old man said,
“You have a bird.” and he was right.
The boy then asked,
“Old man, old man tell me, is the bird alive or is it dead?”
The wise old man
looked at the boy and said, “The bird is as you choose it.”
And so it is in
everything we do. The power, your direction and your destiny are literally in
your hands and the hands of those you lead and/or serve with. Which path are
you going to take? It’s up to you, it’s always up to you.
Moral:
Teamwork is a choice that
every member of the team makes, including the leader.
A wise man who was
visiting River Ganges to take a bath found a group of family members on the
banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled and
asked. ‘Why do people shout in anger at each other?’
Disciples thought for
a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we shout.’ ‘But, why
should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well
tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.’ asked the man.
Disciples gave some
other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.
Finally he explained,
"When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To
cover that distance, they must shout to be able to hear each other."
"The angrier
they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that
great distance."
"What happens
when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, because
their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either non-existent
or very small…" The wise man continued, ‘When they love each other even
more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper ‘n they get even closer to
each other in their love."
Finally they even
need not whisper, they only look at each other and that’s all. That is how
close two people are when they love each other.’
He looked at his
disciples ‘and said. ‘So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do
not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when
the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.’
Do you know someone who has a bad temper? Perhaps you have a bad temper that you wish you didn't have. Can you imagine the damage such a temper can do to you and others?
“You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. Son, a verbal wound is as bad as a physical one or maybe worse”
Vijay and Raju were friends. One day while on holiday, exploring a forest they knew that anything dangerous can happen to them at any time in there. So they promised each other that they would remain united in any case of danger.
Moral: You reap what you sow. Regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. Always Respect, Care for and Love them.
One afternoon, Socrates was standing outside the gates of Athens when he noticed a traveller who had been staring at him for a long time.
Socrates asked, “First, would you tell me what it was like to live there where you come from?”
Have you ever wondered what is stopping you from doing something that you truly want or getting something that you have always wanted to have? What is holding you back from making a move and starting to make your way to your goals? How many excuses do you still have to tell yourself just so you could feel better about not taking that big leap?
No matter the economy of the jungle, the lion will never eat grass. -
Steve Jobs narrated a story of a widowed man he had gotten to know in his eighties who lived up the street from him when he was a young boy.
One day the older man
said to him, “come on into my garage, I want to show you something.” He pulled
out a dusty and old rock tumbler that consisted of a motor and a coffee can
with a little band between them, Jobs recollected.
He then invited him
to the backyard where they collected some very regular and old ugly rocks. They
put them in a can with a little bit of liquid and some grit powder. The old man
then closed the can, turned the motor on and said, “come back tomorrow.”
Jobs remembered the
can making a big racket as the stones went around in the can.
He came back the next
day and when they opened the can and took out the rocks they were amazingly
beautiful and polished. He states, “The same common stones that had gone in,
through rubbing against each other like this (clapping his hands), creating a
little bit of friction, creating a little bit of noise, had come out these
beautiful polished rocks.” Teams, he states, are like these stones.
Individually we can
be fairly normal, ordinary and even a bit rough. But through the process of
teamwork we can end up in a very different state.
Jobs states that
teams consisting of incredibly talented people who are passionate and are
working hard towards something often times bump up against each other, argue,
sometimes fight and make some noise. By working together they polish one
another and their ideas and in the process create beautiful stones.
Have you built up
enough trust on your teams to allow bumping up against one another and
passionately arguing on occasion?
Passive, “follow the
leader” types of teams are destined to fail. Each member of a team brings
something unique. They are unique in their gifts, ideas and arguments. Team
members must feel like they can express themselves without embarrassment or
retribution.
Leaders who embrace
the process of “tumbling stones” on their teams create more efficiency, better
ideas, better problem solving and ultimately better teamwork.
One day, a lion was watching a herd of buffalo feeding in an open field. He had attempted to attack in the past but he was no match for the strong buffalo with their sharp horns and hoofs.
The lion had lost
hope, however he couldn’t keep away.
Hunger kept him from
coming back.
One afternoon, the
buffalo had an ugly fight.
This time when the
lion came to watch them, he found them in separate corners of the field.
It was now easier
than ever to attack the buffalo one at a time, which the lion did to his great
delight.
Moral:
Regardless of our
differences, we must strive together shoulder to shoulder to work together.
There is strength in unity.
United we stand, divided
we fall.
One sunny day a pig and a chicken were walking down a long road into town. As they were passing one of the local restaurants, the chicken turned to the pig and said, “I have an idea. How about we open up a restaurant?” The pig agreed that was a great idea!
“What will we serve
at our restaurant?” the pig asked. “Ham and eggs of course!” said the chicken.
“Whoa, not so fast
Mr. Chicken,” said the pig. “While you’re simply making a contribution, I’m
making a real commitment!”
Moral:
This highlights something significantly wrong on many teams –the issue of commitment. Commitment is not simply a contribution or two, but instead a deep dedicated loyalty to the team and its vision and goals.
Once upon a time there were two donkey’s who had never met but they were tied together. On both side were two nice yummy flowers. They both wanted to eat off the bushes by the flowers but the rope wasn’t long enough.
They both really wanted to eat but they just couldn’t reach so they just pulled and pulled hoping that the rope would stretch but it wouldn’t. They pulled and pulled but still in the same place and they tried again and again.
They pulled and pulled until they gave in.
The donkeys just gave up and fell in a big heep.
They tried to break free but it didn’t work.
Because they couldn’t reach either ends of the flowers, the donkey just sat and introduced each other properly and tried to think of a way to get to the food and eat.
Then one suddenly clicked and said “now that were friends why don’t we just stand next to each other and take turns”, so they did.
Then they both decided to eat the same bush together, and once they finished that, they would eat the second on .
They decided they’d eaten all they could from the other bush so they moved to the next and carried on all day. Both donkeys were happy they worked together to eat.
A man and her wife
were once going with their donkey to market. As they were walking along by his
side a countryman passed them and said, "You fools, what is a donkey for
but to ride upon?" So the man and her wife ride on the donkey, and they
went on their way.
But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said, "Aren't you ashamed
of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours -- you and your
wife?"
So the man ordered her wife to get a ride,
But they hadn't gone far when they passed two men, one of whom said to the
other, “ stupid man he should ride because he is the boss, not her wife”
So he ordered her wife to go down and he got a ride.
But they hadn't gone far when they passed two men, one of whom said to the
other, “ what a selfish man! he should be kind to his wife”
So the man and her wife got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and
they thought, until at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey's feet to it,
and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the
laughter of all who met them until they came to a bridge, when the donkey,
getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the wife to drop his end
of the pole. In the struggle, the donkey fell over the bridge, and his
fore-feet being tied together, he was drowned.
Moral:
1. You cannot please everybody. Whatever
you do, there will be people who will criticize you, so just do what you
believe is right, and don't be distracted by criticisms.
2. The great lesson of life is to be true
to ourselves and not trying to please everyone else’s idea of what and who we
should be.
3. We must always start with who we are if
our goal is greatness. Once we have the courage to be real we can’t be ugly
either.
4.
It
is finding the courage to risk being an authentic person that is the challenge.
We are afraid to let go of our protective devices for fear of rejection and
loss when just the opposite is the truth.
An old man, his wife and a donkey were going to town. His wife rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and his wife was riding. The man and his wife thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.
