I’m not talking about block-chain technology, or AI or VR. I’m talking about what we can do – what we need to do – as business people to future-proof our careers and our companies. Should you be learning about those technologies? Of course, but unless those are at the heart of your business then you likely need to focusing on some other things.

The Past Won’t Predict The Future (Necessarily)

History is a great teacher because it’s over and the facts are more easily seen. We can be backseat drivers to history. From our vantage point, it looks easier than it did in real-time.

Wisdom is being able to get it right in real-time. It’s hard but doable. It’s impossible without varied perspectives so we can avoid our blind spots. History proves it. The biggest mistakes were often made by people arrogant enough to think they knew more than they did. Only to find out too late that maybe they would have been served by listening to some other points of view.

Your past success or failure doesn’t dictate your future. It may impact it, but that’s mostly up to you. I’m not going to discount tradition or legacy. I think they really matter. But they had to start somewhere.

If you haven’t yet established the tradition or culture you feel would most benefit your current and future growth, then get busy with it. Make it a priority. We know our employees have to learn how to win. High performing teams don’t just magically happen. They’re created, trained, fostered and rewarded. It demands a lot of work, but it’s among the most profitable work you’ll ever do as a leader. And it’s a bedrock of future-proofing your company.

High performing teams and cultures don’t continue without bigtime priority effort. You have to keep putting in the work. The fast way to lose them is to take them for granted. Assume you’ve already done that work and you no longer need to do it, and you’ll lose it. So the past accomplishments are important. Don’t surrender ground you’ve already conquered. Keep it conquered by paying attention to it every day.

Get Your Present Right

The first step to future-proofing your life, career and business is to get the present the way it needs to be. Call me Captain Obvious, but this gets by so many people who put all their hope into tomorrow.

See where you’re at right now. See it accurately.

Truth. Evidence. Perspective. Accuracy.

These things matter. Pursue them vigorously. Don’t stop. Your best tool is asking questions. Ask tough questions of yourself. Ask tough questions of others. The only reason asking questions is your best tool is because the most valuable information comes from the answers. So listen! Very carefully.

See. Hear. Understand.

I’m encouraging you to ask questions for the purpose of learning and understanding. Not to show off. Not to make people tense or uncomfortable. Not to make sure everybody knows you’re the boss.

Growing great happens when we more deeply develop our learning and understanding AND then we leverage those into our lives. It’s one thing to know something you didn’t know earlier. But it doesn’t do you much good unless you put it into action.

Start asking better questions. Not fancier ones, but ones that will get to the heart of what you need to know. Be fearless. Don’t be embarrassed to ask any question. It’s likely the one that most needs to be answered.

Next, get busy with things to grow today. I’m all for patience, but you can’t delay growth. Don’t be fooled into thinking that procrastination is a good strategy. This isn’t about expecting miraculous fas...

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about “Zero Sum Game” –

In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss of utility is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the utility of the other participants. If the total gains of the participants are added up and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero. Thus, cutting a cake, where taking a larger piece reduces the amount of cake available for others, is a zero-sum game if all participants value each unit of cake equally.

Many business owners believe in the zero-sum game. They think the path to growing their business is to take business away from their direct competitors. I admit it can be a fun approach if you’re winning, but ridiculously frustrating if you’re not.

Like so many things in life, it’s a point of view that becomes reality for those who hold to it. Like Henry Ford famously said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Believe it’s true and it seems to become true. At least for you.

You’re competitive. That’s largely what drives you, the urge to win. To compete. To play the game of business. I certainly feel that way. But whenever our business isn’t hitting the targets of success, we have two fundamental choices in how to view it. One, it’s the competition. They’re the reason for it. Two, it’s us. It’s my fault. Today I want to make a strong case for why that second point of view is the smarter view.

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” —Benjamin Franklin

Excuses don’t make us better. Nobody ever grew great by embracing the practice of excuse-making. The evidence is all around us. It doesn’t work. But if it did, boy would we be surrounded by outlandishly successful people, right?

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” ?George Washington Carver

Can I tell you one big advantage I had in starting my sales career as a 16-year-old? It’s really fortunate and the only role I played was my brashness to walk into a stereo store and ask for a job, then sitting across from the owner and earning a spot on his company’s roster. Working retail at such a young age – working on a straight commission basis (meaning if I sold something I made money, but if I sold nothing…I made nothing) – gave me a perspective that has served me since.

Focus on the customer.

Maybe it was my youthful naivete, but I just didn’t much care what the folks across town at the other stereo shops were doing. I knew them well. I knew what products they carried. I knew how they did business because I had spent hours visiting them. Before I ever began my own career selling hi-fi gear I had established in my mind how I thought a better experience could be given.

Namely, I knew how I was treated each time I went into these stores. And I understood why.

I was just a kid. I was never viewed as a serious prospect. But I loved this stuff. And you have to realize that back then stores weren’t big, warehouse type affairs with hoards of people clogging the aisles. These were small stereo stores where the biggest ones were a few thousand square feet with multiple rooms. Most had 2 to 4 salespeople at most, working at any one time. You could commonly visit a store and be the only shopper there.

I always wondered why many salespeople – people much older than me, but people who I assumed had more experience and know-how – wouldn’t take any tim...

The CEO makes an admission. Maybe a declaration. Maybe a regret. I’m not sure.

“We know what to do, but it’s virtually impossible for us to do it.”

When asked about the constraint, or hurdle for getting it done he begins to lament all the difficulties. He mentions all the senseless meetings where debates rage over inane things, agendas that don’t matter and a million other things people deem important, if not urgent. But in his mind, the waste in the system is stifling activities better spent doing what needs to be done.

To be fair he’s talking about revolutionary things. And that’s what amazes me. That these things are indeed revolutionary. That so many businesses are operating knowing they can do things differently. Better.

But they simply can’t tell the truth or act on it.

They’re stuck. Industry assumptions. Corporate assumptions. Embracing past successes. Fear of present or future threats. On and on it goes. Thinking and feelings based on many things other than the present truth.

Back in Daily Brief number 95 I talked about candor and the need for it. It’s honest sincerity. Simply put, it’s TRUTH.

Leaders, especially political leaders, may lament that they’re unable to tell the absolute truth because nobody would vote for them if they did. They might claim nobody wants to hear the truth.

Truth is difficult, but it’s not impossible. It’s not impossible to tell it. It’s not impossible to act on it. Why else tell it if you can’t or won’t act on it?

Delusion Isn’t A Better Option

Business owners, like any other group of people, including CEO’s, can find solace in embracing unreasonable assumptions. The biggest assumption may be that they must do what others do, the way others do it. Safety in numbers and all that!

But there is no safety in numbers. We’re fooled into thinking so.

We’re also fooled into thinking we must follow “best practices.” This is the one that chaps my hide because it’s so despicable to our innovation and creativity. It sticks us, mires us in the mud of false assumptions, conclusions and perspectives.

During my years of retailing, there was a dominant question asked every Monday morning among retailing cohorts. “How was foot traffic this weekend?” Or, “How were sales this weekend?”

What would follow would be a litany of excuses if sales weren’t great. Retailers worldwide are notorious for blaming everything from the weather to other local events that stole the interest that weekend, to flu outbreaks and anything else that MIGHT explain our poor outcome. Truth? Not really. More likely excuses because it absolves us of the responsibility. It couldn’t be us. It must be some other external influence beyond our control. That’s what makes the failure of truth so damaging.

Truth Telling Doesn’t Require Harshness

Somewhere along the line, I’m unsure where or how it started, we began to think that truth-telling required some bluntness that is offensive. Like a friend wearing an ugly sweater who asks, “How do you like my sweater?” — we feel there’s often just no way we can tell the truth. I don’t think we’re thinking that through though. I mean, what answers could we give to our ugly-sweater-wearing friend? We just get taken off guard so most people probably choose to lie. “Sure, it’s nice.” But we could easily tell the truth and not be hurtful.

“Does it matter how much I like it?

How serious have you been about them? Have you ever done it so well you remember doing it? Or…

Do you give it just a quick drive-by?

Be honest.

Mostly, we’re too busy living to do much of either one – counting blessings or giving thanks.

Let’s get to the real crux of it. How serious have you been about what you lack? How often do you complain about the government, or government-related stuff like paying taxes, or regulations? How often do you get privately angry at vendors or other business partners?

Mostly, we’re too busy focusing on what we don’t have or what we wish would go away. Where’s the time for counting blessings or giving thanks?

Answer: We don’t take the time to do the right things to help ourselves grow great because quite often we’re too busy doing the wrong things to help ourselves feel better in the short term. Complaining and getting angry fuel our short-term satisfaction. So much so, we find it very difficult to hit the eject button the hampster wheel.

Optimism or pessimism isn’t hard-wired. Pessimists enjoy fooling themselves into thinking it is. It plays into our notion that some folks are just luckier than others. It gives us an easy excuse, allowing us to avoid accountability.

Optimists know life – all of life – is a choice. We decide. We act. We behave. But even optimists can have moments of pessimism during times when we’d rather avoid responsibility and blame others.

All this plays into our sense of gratitude, our ability and willingness to count our blessings while simultaneously giving thanks for them.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in America. It’s a day when family and friends get together, eat way too much, watch a little bit of football and kick off the holiday season.

The path to a brighter future hinges on our personal responsibility. I believe a major part of our personal responsibility is our obligation to ourselves, to others and to God is to embrace optimism through gratitude. And in reverse order: God first, others second, and ourselves third.

Start By Taking Just 15 Minutes A Day

I believe in small bite-sized approaches. At least at the beginning. To get started.

Quieten your mind. However best you’re able.

Then, roll through the blessings to discover THE blessing for which you’re most thankful. Admittedly, it’s going to be challenging, but it’ll force you to quickly catalog the blessings as you search for the one you’re most thankful for.

It won’t matter if you get that top spot filled accurately at first. After you get the first one, then go searching through the list for the next most important one.

This is your list so you get to decide for yourself. You may find that as you’re looking for number two you displace number one with something else. That’s fine. Keep the exercise going for as long as you’re able…up to 10 minutes. Two-thirds of the 15 minutes.

Devote the final third of the time to giving thanks for however far you got with your list of blessings. Do that in whatever way suits you best. Me? I pray and give God the thanks.

Reflection After The Fact

Counting blessings and giving thanks won’t likely sit idly by satisfied with their 15 minutes of daily fame. They’ll wrestle your mind to the ground for greater attention. Give it to them. Your surrender to them will fuel growth. Your growth!

It’s not important that you dedicate more time to the 15-minute exercise because you’re going to reflect on them throughout the day. What is important is that you not ignore the urge. Don’t suppress thinking about them again.

I did a 5-part summary of the book – The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight To Create Superior Results by Saj-Nicole A. Joni, PhD. You can find each episode here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Three years of research by the author has led to two insights that form the heart of this book:

Insight 1: Leadership today requires 3 new habits: the habit of the mind, habit of relationship and habit of focus.

Insight 2: You can start developing the three habits and your advisory network at any time during your career.

One: Habit of mind

Leaders must master a new way of thinking. Joni calls this “exponential thinking.” It allows you to see all sides of a complex issue. Exponential thinking is best done with others. This kind of thinking plays an important role in decisions where there is high ambiguity, uncertainty, and risk.

Exponential thinking is required at all levels today, not just the C-suite.

Two: Habit of relationship

Leaders today must assemble a new kind of leadership team, one that ensures they undertake the right kind of exploratory thinking. One that challenges perspectives.

Leaders need external thinking partners so they explore sensitive and edgy issues with high trust and external perspective. These are compartmentalized roles necessarily. A person can play different roles. For instance, one person might move from subject expert to thinking partner and sometimes to action team member at different times depending on the circumstances, expertise and interest. Your ability to get results in increasingly boundaryless organizations depends on how well you can orchestrate your network of important relationships.

Three: Habit of focus

Leaders must have the skill and discipline to focus on the essential non-urgent issues. Leaders today face information overload and increased demands for speed. More and more daily work has become urgent. But just getting daily work isn’t what your leadership is about. Leaders must be able to create and execute strategies to carry out their leadership agendas.

Mastery of the habit of focus is being able to function effectively in your high-pressure environment and make progress on the big, longer-term issues that need your attention. Your sustained focus on the non-urgent important issues is ultimately what will define your leadership. It’s what differentiates your unique contributions and ability to deliver value no one else can.

Insight 2 is that anybody can develop these three habits at any time. But it’s important to develop these habits in concert. Everybody will use each habit differently, but there are guidelines to help you focus on perfecting the various parts of each habit as your leadership progresses.

Where do today’s business leaders turn for outside insi...

On Monday night, October 29th, some Senators NHL hockey players were taking an Uber ride in Phoenix. The driver’s onboard video captured the conversation of the players mocking how poorly they’re being coached. The driver pushed the video to YouTube and that’s when the trouble began. For starters, this father of 6 was fired by Uber. The players scrambled into “damage control” mode to backtrack. Too late. The damage was done.

A private conversation that went public – and viral – proved that employees, even professional athletes, often see their leaders and companies in a different light than management likely wants. The truth hurts. And when it’s delivered unexpectedly and outside of a safe environment, it can cause harm. But…

That shouldn’t be the case! Ever.

But I realize that’s impractical and unreasonable. Even so, I know it can be drastically improved.

Leaders think and feel one way, but so often employees think and feel very different. The first question is…

Do you care what your employees think? Does it matter to you how they feel?

Let’s think about it. What difference does it make? Well, let me ask you if it matters to you how you think and feel about anything? Can you just do whatever needs to be done, or whatever you’re told needs to be done without letting your thoughts and feelings interfere in any way?

I guess that’s possible if you’re a mindless doofus, but I’m fairly confident you’re not intentionally trying to build a team like that. You know the answer. Thoughts and feelings impact everything we do, every single day! You, me…everybody. Including your team.

Armed with that truth, we can conclude that the thoughts and feeling of our team members matters. Not because we’re touchy-feely business owners, but because it matters to performance. I’d add my 2 cents here, since this is my podcast, it’s also the right thing to do – to care about your team members enough as people to give due consideration to their thoughts and feelings.

What is due consideration?

It’s not an escape hatch for us to slide through so we can justify our tyrannical leadership, but it is an honest viewpoint that recognizes leadership has a perspective that isn’t always aligned with every segment of our team. Fact is, we see things and know things they don’t.

For years I coached hockey – particularly inline or roller hockey. Whether the players were 8 or 18, as a coach I could see things the players simply couldn’t see. But they could see things I couldn’t see.

For them, the game was primarily a series of 1-on-1 play. That is, they were either defending the player in the front of them (or things went badly, behind them) OR they were attacking (a term of offensive play meaning our team had the puck) the player in front of them.

For me, the game was primarily macro – meaning I was looking at the overall position and strategy. They saw things up close. I saw things more zoomed out. Together, if we had the talent/skill and an accurate perspective, then we could compile a winning strategy.

My job as the coach was to put the players, individually and collectively, in the best position possible for success. That included a game plan that would allow them to play a winning game. It was up to them to execute that game plan. But first, they had to believe what I believed – this is our best opportunity to win. I needed them to always deeply believe in what I was asking them to do. Mostly, they did and my teams enjoyed success because of it.

Professional hockey players who make millions of dollars need the same thing....

You didn’t think you’d hear from me today, did you? Well, in the words of Gomer Pyle, “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”

Let’s talk about delighting customers. By now you know me well enough to know how fanatical I am about customer service or experience. I use words like extraordinary, remarkable and verbs like dazzle and delight.

Companies talk about it because talk is easy. Execution is hard. Doable, but hard.

Unfortunately, companies can be lulled into thinking they’re doing a good job when they’re not. Just say it and believe it. That’s enough.

Well, to be fair it used to be enough. But the Internet changed all that. Now, people can publish and talk. Word of mouth used to mean you bought a new car, took it home and told your neighbors where not to go buy a car. Because your experience was awful. The car? She’s great. But the dealer where we got it, not so much. That was our word of mouth. That was then.

Now, we go home, aim our phone’s camera at our face while we show off our car’s interior. Then we turn the camera on the outside of the car as we offer a review to anybody interested in this particular model. We share our dealership experience in the video. For good or bad. And we post it on YouTube, Facebook and as an Instagram story. We also figure we’ll post a review at the dealer’s Google profile, giving them 2 stars. “The paperwork took us 4 hours! Four stinking hours just to get out of the door with our new car. Don’t shop here unless you’re craving the need to feel like a hostage.”

That’s our word of mouth today. Companies have no place to hide today. The worldwide web exposes us. All of us.

I know what you’re thinking. How can our company possibly meet the expectations of today’s customers? How do we protect ourselves against the unreasonable client who refuses to think we’re giving it our best? Answer: you can’t. Jerks are going to be jerks.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! You can’t let the jerks dictate how you roll. So because you can’t dazzle 100% of the people you’re not going to bust your tail trying? That’s a bad business model. Lean into it. Make up your mind that even if the jerks write a bad review of your company, you’re going to remain devoted to doing the right thing – delighting every customer!

Make up your mind. Decide.

That’s the real key to delighting customers! And no, it’s not easy to decide.

Have you ever found it hard to forgive somebody, but you eventually relented and did forgive them? You just wallered it and wallered it, refusing to give in. You told yourself how undeserving they are of your forgiveness. You justified it 8 ways to Sunday. You fortified yourself, entrenching yourself more and more into your position of not forgiving them. Until you realized you were working a lot harder not to forgive them than you would if you just let go and made up your mind, “I’m going to forgive them and move on.” In an instant you did it. Something clicked inside of you and caused you to at long last decide to forgive. That gave rise to other actions that likely served you well. Much better than holding onto the grudge or whatever else you were feeling.

That’s how it works with delighting customers. Fret about all the downsides. Find every excuse for neglecting to do it. Justify it with spreadsheets and all the perceived outcomes you can imagine. You’ll devote more effort into being poor or mediocre at serving customers than you will at rising above the crowd and living in the Land of Delight!

Over deliver. Under promise.

Dissect anything and you’ll discover some important things and many insignificant things. That includes selling.

I don’t necessarily have sales DNA, but I’ve got a lifetime of sales experience so it sometimes feels like it’s DNA. Oh, and I’m naturally introverted. And there’s this – I do not think “salesman” is a derogatory label. I rather think selling can be noble (or not), like most things.

Simply put, selling is dialogue with a purpose. Ideally, the purpose is to serve the customer with something highly valuable. Valuable enough to warrant an exchange of money. Valuable enough that the amount of money paid by the customer is equal or less than the benefit they get from the thing. Valuable enough that the amount enables the provider (the seller) with the sustained ability to continue to deliver the value to customers now and in the future.

Dialogue is the keyword. Selling is a conversation. A give and take. Questions and answers. Understanding. Learning.

Selling is a dozen little things. Because it’s a conversation between two or more people it’s entirely focused on communication.

And this is where your impatience can wreck things. You begin to take shortcuts. You neglect the vital elements of human connection because you can’t help yourself. You need to make a sale. You want to make a sale. You grow fixated on what you want and forget the purpose of the dialogue – to serve the customer!

Do you have people in your life who call you and all you have to do is answer your phone…then they’re off to the races with what they want to say? Barely coming up for air?

Ten minutes into the conversation – well, to be accurate, it’s not a conversation…it’s a monologue – you’ve only said one word, “Hello.” Selling is a dialogue, not a monologue.

That person who calls you and dominates the conversation isn’t interested in hearing what you’ve got to say. They’re just looking for somebody who will endure listening to them. Do you really think your prospect is willing to endure that from you? Don’t kid yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about them. It’s only about you in the context of what’s in it for them. Remember the value exchange, the purpose of the dialogue.

Impatience can make you neglect all the little things necessary to give the prospect the opportunity to take advantage of your offer. Your brain kicks into a different place when you’re impatient. It defies logic and reason thinking, “The more I talk the more I’m likely to persuade them.” You get sucked into thinking that the blitzkrieg of information is the path to hearing them say, “Yes.” The moment just gets too big for some people because they’re selfish.

How can we harness our impatience when we’re selling?

One, remember the purpose.

To serve the customer. Period. Get that emblazoned on your brain before you enter the dialogue. Keep it there. It’s the bedrock of everything else you do.

Two, leverage the purpose to drive the conversation.

Think of your closest friends or family members. Do they show interest in you? Yep. These people are genuinely interested in you and what’s going on with you. Plus, they’re genuinely interested in how they can help you. And you feel the same toward them.

Go into the sales conversation focused on the prospect. Be interested in them and in helping them. Avoid being presumptuous. “I’ve got the ideal solution for you,” is a presumption I’ve heard millions of times.

Happy Monday! This may be a short week for the podcast. I’ve got a hectic schedule starting Wednesday morning – through the rest of the week. But we’ll see how it goes. I’m just forwarning you so you don’t panic if you don’t hear from me after tomorrow. But for now, let’s kick this week off with a focus on what we DON’T need.

There are many things we don’t need, but perhaps the last thing we need…or the thing we most don’t need is another person telling us what to do.

Here’s the thing, and you hear me say it constantly…because it’s just true. You’ll figure it out. YOU will figure it out. Sometimes people think that means they have to go it alone, but that’s not it at all. Quite the contrary. We need the help of other people as we operate our business. We just need the right people. People who can help us figure it out, NOT people who try to figure it out for us!

Why are these the last people we need? Because they’re not helpful. They can be toxic.

Let me clarify. Sometimes we ask people, “What should I do?” And sometimes we really mean it. Other times, we don’t. We’re just looking for an easy answer.

Here’s the thing. Most people who are advice givers are prone to do it without context. They’re selfish. It’s not about you, but it’s about them. They’re smarter than you. Or think they are. But just because somebody gives us advice doesn’t make them a purebred advice giver.

Frequently, I’m asked, “What do you think I should do?” I can give advice as much as the next guy, but I need context before I’m willing to even consider doing it. That means I ask a ton of questions. My goal is to avoid “telling,” choosing rather to help the person see more clearly for themselves what they should.

Exceptions. There are always some. Harmful behavior. Illegal behavior. Unethical behavior. Immoral behavior.

Even these exceptions demand a bit of an explanation though. Not everybody wants or will accept advice when they’re behaving poorly. What do we do? I’m not a fan of looking the other way. To warn people that they’re going down a dangerous path isn’t the same thing as telling somebody what to do. We want to help people we care about, the people we love. None of want to sit idly by and watch people hurt themselves or others. Sometimes we need to intervene. This episode isn’t about how to go about that, but I don’t want any of us to feel bad for trying to extend that kind of help. And I don’t want us to hesitate thinking it’s the last thing these people need. No, they need somebody courageous enough to help them and warn them. We all need correction sometimes.

It’s hard enough for us to change ourselves. It’s impossible for us to change anybody else, but it’s possible for us to help them see their need to change. So when we’re faced with friends or family or coworkers who are behaving poorly…I think we have a responsibility to serve them well. They have to decide for themselves. As we all do.

Okay, back to the point of today’s episode – which basically is the truth that we all have to figure it out, but others can help us do that better and faster!

Giving advice.

Every leader does it. We should. But that isn’t necessarily (or always) the same as telling people what to do. But sometimes it is.

You’ve got an employee who isn’t cutting it. Their job is now on the line. If they don’t improve, they’ll most certainly be terminated.

Happy Saturday! Warning: I’m fixing to make you an offer. Well, it may be an offer for you. It depends on who you are. Along the way, I’m going to provoke you to think and perhaps consider some new ideas. I hope you find it useful.

I’m currently looking for U.S. based business owners who are prepared to take their business and their leadership to whole new heights…to join me inside The Peer Advantage by Bula Network. Quite simply, The Peer Advantage by Bula Network is a 7-member peer advisory group – a mastermind group, if you please. Seven entrepreneurs together with me serving as the smart guide. People willing to join forces to help each other grow their businesses by sharing experiences, insights, questions, and answers.

You can find out all the details by visiting ThePeerAdvantage.com.

But today I want to focus on why this is the world’s best opportunity for entrepreneurs to grow.

Growth is popular to claim. Easy to say that we want, but much tougher to accomplish…because it’s not easy. Or comfortable. And we want to be comfortable, then when we are comfortable we want to remain comfortable.

There are 2 basic forces involved in this world’s best opportunity for entrepreneurs to grow. They’re PERSPECTIVE and POWER. Both involve our willingness to embrace – I mean fully embrace – the service, support, and help of others. Let’s talk about them.

PERSPECTIVE.

Here’s a story you may or may not have heard. Listen carefully.

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, “Hey, there is an elephant in the village today.”

They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, “Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway.” All of them went where the elephant was. Every one of them touched the elephant.

“Hey, the elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.

“Oh, no! it is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail.

“Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

“It is like a big hand fan,” said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

“It is like a huge wall,” said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

“It is like a solid pipe,” Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and every one of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, “What is the matter?” They said, “We cannot agree to what the elephant is like.” Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, “All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually, the elephant has all those features what you all said.”

“Oh!” everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have a different perspective which we may not agree with. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should think, “Maybe they have their reasons. I should find out more.” This way we don’t get in arguments. This allows us to derive benefit from people with different viewpoints and p...