The Harvard MBA and the fisherman

A businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. Complimenting the fisherman on the quality of his catch, the businessman asked how long it took to haul in the fish.

"Only a little while," the fisherman replied.

The young man asked: "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The content fisherman said: "This is enough to support my family's needs. I don't need any more."

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a walk with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my buddies. I have a full and busy life."

The young man scoffed: "I have a Harvard MBA and can help you. Spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds from your catch, buy a bigger boat.

Using the proceeds earned from hauling in more fish with the bigger boat, you can buy several boats and eventually own a fishing fleet.

Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you can sell the fish directly to a processor and open your own cannery eventually. You will then be in control of the product, processing, and distribution.

You will have to leave this small village and move to a city to run your expanding enterprise. This will take 15 to 20 years."

The fisherman asked: "But what then?"

"That's the best part, " the young man replied. "When the time is right, you announce an IPO, sell your company's stock and become very rich."

"Then what?"

"Then you would retire, move to a small village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a walk with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings and sip wine and play guitar with your buddies."

I first came across this story in 17 June 2010 issue of mypaper (page A15), and a quick search even showed how someone analyses this as a misleading story telling.

Well, even if the story was somewhat misleading in that fisherman would be financially free if he were to follow the young man's advice (as opposed to having to fish everyday for a living), it doesn't change the fact that by the time he is able to retire and "enjoy" time with his family after 15 to 20 years in the fast lane, his kids would have all grown up, his wife grown old, and all of them probably grown distant from him.

So while we are busy scaling our career ladders or building our dream empire to reach that elusive bed of roses, we mustn't forget to slow down occasionally to see and smell the roses that were already there along the way.