Chinese Proverb A very old man knew that knew was going to die very soon. Before he died he wanted to know what heaven and hell were like, so he visited the wise man in his village. Can you please tell me what heaven and hell are like? he asked the wise man. Come with me and I will show you, the wise man replied. The two men walked down a long path until they came to a large house. The wise man took the old man inside, and there they found a large dining room with enormous table covered with every kind of food imaginable. Around the table were many people, all thin and hungry, who were holding twelve-foot chopsticks. Every time they tried to feed themselves the food fell off the chopsticks. The old man said to the wise man, Surely this must be hell. Will you now show me heaven? The wise man said, Yes, come with me. The two men left the house and walked farther down the path until they reached another large house. Again they found a large dining room and in it a table filled with all kinds of food. The people here were happy and appeared well fed, but they also held twelve-foot chopsticks. How can this be? said the old man. These people have twelve-foot chopsticks and yet they are happy and well fed. The wise man replied, In heaven the people feed each other. The subject of the proverb is far more serious than what we deal with as a software shop, but I find there are parallels between this proverb and our team. Mainly that as a company and a team we try our best to feed each other, whether its literal food, encouragement, trust, support, teaching, learning, etc. While were not perfect we definitely avoid what a lot of other teams cannot because we actively try to put our egos aside rather than focus on ourselves, which as the proverb suggests, leads people to become hungry and thin. Happy New Year xx
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:07:19 +0000
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