The Fisherman and the Businessman
The Fisherman and the Businessman - a classic Brazilian story...
There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small
Brazilian village. As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a
small boat towards the shore having caught quite a few big fish.
The
businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it
take you to catch so many fish?” The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a
short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning,
go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids.
In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join
my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance
throughout the night.”
The businessman offered a suggestion
to the fisherman. “I am a PhD in business management. I could help you
to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more
time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have
saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more
fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your
own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution
network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao
Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king
in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and
float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can
move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning,
catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice
afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your
buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the
night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”
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