In life, when
faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work
harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change
strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to
do both.
harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change
strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to
do both.
Take the case
of ........
The Hare & The
Tortoise
Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about whom was
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 for some time and relax before continuing the race.
He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on
overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.
The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.
The moral- "Slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the
story that we've all grown up with."
THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE
There are few more interesting things...
It continues as follows...
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some
soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had
been 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 to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time,
the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.
The moral - " Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.
It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable."
THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE
The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no
way it can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. It
thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on
a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping
with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off
and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line
was a couple of kilometres 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 - " First identify your core competency and then change the
playing field to suit your core competency."
THE STORY STILL HASN'T ENDED.
The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends
and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race
could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race
again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the
hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took
over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the
hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line
together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt
earlier.
The moral - "It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong
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 always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else
does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the
person with the relevant core competency for a situation takes leadership.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The
hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The
tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he
could."
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When
we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the
situation, we perform far better.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise has much to say:
Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and
steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team
will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with
failure; & finally, compete against the situation - not against a rival.
Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about whom was
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 for some time and relax before continuing the race.
He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on
overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.
The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.
The moral- "Slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the
story that we've all grown up with."
THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE
There are few more interesting things...
It continues as follows...
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some
soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had
been 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 to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time,
the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.
The moral - " Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.
It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable."
THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE
The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no
way it can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. It
thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on
a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping
with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off
and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line
was a couple of kilometres 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 - " First identify your core competency and then change the
playing field to suit your core competency."
THE STORY STILL HASN'T ENDED.
The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends
and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race
could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race
again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the
hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took
over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the
hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line
together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt
earlier.
The moral - "It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong
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 always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else
does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the
person with the relevant core competency for a situation takes leadership.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The
hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The
tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he
could."
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When
we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the
situation, we perform far better.
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise has much to say:
Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and
steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team
will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with
failure; & finally, compete against the situation - not against a rival.
