A few years ago, there were quite a number of people warning against the dangers of becoming used to being spoon fed. Or just fed - forget the spoon.
In a free-enterprise economy, we only get paid when we offer something of value to our specific marketplace. Whether we're a salary earning employee or a taxi driver, whether we sell hamburgers or jets, we can not expect to earn a living if we don't provide high value in exchange for the customer's currency. The customer can be a passenger, a hamburger-eater, a high flier or a government department. If we don't give them what they want and need, they'll find a better use for their money.
So, not many people listened. Most of us got lazy. There was so much money wandering around looking for a place to be spent that we didn't try too hard to make sure we were high value. Sure, it mattered that we did a good job. But we didn't have to justify ourselves very much. People paid us, because they had to pay someone.
And then things changed. A few bankers, stockbrokers, financiers showed us that we had built our economic house on a pack of cards, and the warnings we had were valid. The spoon was empty.
Now a lot of people are hungry. We got too used to the shape of the spoon. We've forgotten - or never learned - that for a spoon to be full, we have to give very high value in exchange. If we can be done without, we may not get fed. And that's a worry.
Where I live, I hear a lot of moaning and wailing and gnashing of teeth. A lot of cries for rescue. On the one hand, I see hordes of people feeling frightened, insecure and cheated somehow. On the other hand I see some very creative entrepreneurs, doing quite well making a living out of the hordes.
I'm seeing a lot of information products being sold on line - many offering hope - some to the point of ridiculous fantasy. Others are helpful, useful, and could genuinely provide a new source of income.
The world sure has changed.
Or has it?
Maybe my spoon is hiding exactly where it always was, within reach, but not as I thought it was.
I remember a colleague sharing an ancient rabbinical tale of a highly favoured wise man who was given the great gift prior to his death of being shown the two alternative destinations. First he was taken by a guide to a magnificent banquet hall, swathed in luxurious fabrics. Down the centre was a huge table groaning with delicious food of every description, in abundance. Yet he noticed that all the people sitting the length of the table were pale, wan, starving. He frowned in puzzlement and looked questioningly at his guide, who pointed to the spoons they were trying to use to feed themselves. Ah, he noticed. The spoons were large wooden implements over 2 metres long. While they could put food on them, they couldn't get them into their mouths. So they starved. "This" said the guide "is hell." They moved on to another banquet hall. It was identical in every way - fabulous decor, more amazing rich food - only this time the people were laughing, well fed and totally enjoying themselves. "This" said the guide "is heaven." The wise man looked and saw that the spoons were exactly the same. But this time, the people were feeding each other.
Perhaps that is the secret. What could I do to feed other people - that is of so much value to them that they will feed me back? Isn't that the answer to all business?
Maybe we have to be reminded of that. Maybe that's what's going on.
In a free-enterprise economy, we only get paid when we offer something of value to our specific marketplace. Whether we're a salary earning employee or a taxi driver, whether we sell hamburgers or jets, we can not expect to earn a living if we don't provide high value in exchange for the customer's currency. The customer can be a passenger, a hamburger-eater, a high flier or a government department. If we don't give them what they want and need, they'll find a better use for their money.
So, not many people listened. Most of us got lazy. There was so much money wandering around looking for a place to be spent that we didn't try too hard to make sure we were high value. Sure, it mattered that we did a good job. But we didn't have to justify ourselves very much. People paid us, because they had to pay someone.
And then things changed. A few bankers, stockbrokers, financiers showed us that we had built our economic house on a pack of cards, and the warnings we had were valid. The spoon was empty.
Now a lot of people are hungry. We got too used to the shape of the spoon. We've forgotten - or never learned - that for a spoon to be full, we have to give very high value in exchange. If we can be done without, we may not get fed. And that's a worry.
Where I live, I hear a lot of moaning and wailing and gnashing of teeth. A lot of cries for rescue. On the one hand, I see hordes of people feeling frightened, insecure and cheated somehow. On the other hand I see some very creative entrepreneurs, doing quite well making a living out of the hordes.
I'm seeing a lot of information products being sold on line - many offering hope - some to the point of ridiculous fantasy. Others are helpful, useful, and could genuinely provide a new source of income.
The world sure has changed.
Or has it?
Maybe my spoon is hiding exactly where it always was, within reach, but not as I thought it was.
I remember a colleague sharing an ancient rabbinical tale of a highly favoured wise man who was given the great gift prior to his death of being shown the two alternative destinations. First he was taken by a guide to a magnificent banquet hall, swathed in luxurious fabrics. Down the centre was a huge table groaning with delicious food of every description, in abundance. Yet he noticed that all the people sitting the length of the table were pale, wan, starving. He frowned in puzzlement and looked questioningly at his guide, who pointed to the spoons they were trying to use to feed themselves. Ah, he noticed. The spoons were large wooden implements over 2 metres long. While they could put food on them, they couldn't get them into their mouths. So they starved. "This" said the guide "is hell." They moved on to another banquet hall. It was identical in every way - fabulous decor, more amazing rich food - only this time the people were laughing, well fed and totally enjoying themselves. "This" said the guide "is heaven." The wise man looked and saw that the spoons were exactly the same. But this time, the people were feeding each other.
Perhaps that is the secret. What could I do to feed other people - that is of so much value to them that they will feed me back? Isn't that the answer to all business?
Maybe we have to be reminded of that. Maybe that's what's going on.
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