The Lion Makers - India

In India there are quite a few Brahmans. Brahmans are priests who belong to the upper class; they are usually very smart. They also very proud of their knowledge, and often in possession of magical skills. One day, four Brahmans were walking together in a forest, when suddenly they stumbled over the skeleton of a dead lion. One Brahman said: 'This is a good opportunity to prove our magical talents'.

'Yes', replied the other one, 'let us bring the lion back to life. I will put the skeleton back together'. And the took the lion's rib cage, his skull and his leg bones and put them back together. The second Brahman said: 'I can give it skin, flesh and blood', and so he did.

Image: Susil Sri Creations

Before the third Brahman could bring it back to life, the fourth Brahman said: 'Wait! This is a lion, remember? If you bring it back to life, he will eat us for breakfast'.

'Oh come on', the others said, 'are you afraid? This lion owes us his life!' But the fourth Brahman did not listen. 'You can say what you want, but I am climbing up that tree', he said.

While the third Brahman brought the lion back to life, the beast gave a big roar and jumped on the three Brahmans. He devoured them in 30 minutes, while the fourth Brahman was watching the scene from the safety of this tree.

Questions

• Why do you think the lion killed the Brahmans who had brought him to life?
• Why did the three stay on the ground while the forth hid in the tree?
• How do you think the fourth Brahman felt watching the lion eat the others?
• Have you ever let pride get in the way of your common sense?

Management Link

Managers need to have many skills, and a lot of knowledge. This can range from how to plan activities, to motivating people, from book keeping to persuading clients. People can study for years to become a manager. What this simple story illustrates, is that you should not try to show off your skills or talents, and more importantly, that you should listen to your intuition.Your common sense is often a good adviser.

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The Big Fat Hen - Asia

In a certain country in Asia there lived an old woman. It is said that she had a pretty hen that laid her a fine egg each morning. She was the envy of all the other women in the village. While other women also had hens, they were not so regular and a little lazy. And when their hens laid eggs they were small and not so tasty.

Image: Susil Sri Creations

The old lady with the fat hen was really proud of her bird. Yet after some time she became used to having fresh eggs and she came up with an idea. What if I give my hen a little bit more corn every day, perhaps then she'll lay two eggs per day. After all, why should I be satisfied with one egg per day only?

As such the woman started to feed her hen twice per day, and she gave her a little bit more to eat each day. The hen grew bigger and bigger, and eventually became very fat. And lazy she became too. She refused to get up on the mornings, and one day, she did not even lay one egg. The villagers were laughing. The old lady's hen had stopped laying eggs all together. The village women appreciated their own small eggs even more...

Questions

• For which reason did they old lady try to improve her hen's egg laying?
• Why were the other villages laughing at her?
• What does this story tell you about improving procedures and innovations?

Management Link

The Americans have a saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. In other words: any attempt to improve on a system that is already functional should be carefully considered or it may be detrimental. This story clearly illustrates how this woman's idea of improving her hen's egg laying backfired. Why did she over-feed the hen? Perhaps out of greed, or to impress her fellow villages, or maybe she came from humble beginnings such that eggs were an extremely valued commodity. Who knows?

As a manager you will need to promote innovation in your organization, and to establish good practices. The lesson learned from this tale is to always make sure you carry out a proper (needs) assessment before changing any good system or current practice.

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