The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who owned a goose. To his amazement, the goose laid eggs that had shells of pure, shimmering gold. Every day, the farmer would find a single gleaming golden egg in the nest of the goose.

At first, the farmer was overjoyed. He couldn't believe his great fortune! With each passing day, he became wealthier and wealthier, thanks to the golden eggs. But soon, he realized that he wanted so much more out of life, and at this current pace, it would take him several years to have enough wealth to acquire all that he really wanted. One day, he thought to himself, "If this goose can lay one golden egg every day, surely there must be many more inside of her." Unable to resist the tempatation of instant riches, the farmer decided to cut open the goose to take out all the golden eggs at once.

To his dismas, when the goose was opened, all he found was ordinary goose innards . There were no golden eggs to be found. The goose, of course, was now dead.

The farmer had not saved a single golden egg, and had spent the money he made from them almost as fast as he had gained it. Instantly, he realized he was as poor as he had ever been.

Moral of the Story: Greed and impatience leads to ruin. Be satisfied with that of which you're given instead of trying to take more than is offered.

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The Goose Who Laid the Golden Eggs: A Modern Fable

Once upon a time, there was a small advertising firm run by Mr. Farmer. One day, he hired a young and talented designer named Geetha. He put her on a team who needed her talents. Quickly, she showed what focus, perseverence, and talent could do, and produced beautiful designs that were easily sold to customers.

Mr. Farmer allowed her to continue at this pace for awhile and watched greedily as the company's revenues rose steadily. But then, without warning, Mr. Farmer's greed overcame him and he was dissatisfied. He put Geetha as the head designer on all five teams of the firm in hopes of quintoupling the output.

Consequently, Geetha's work began to suffer, as did her morale. None of the work was anywhere close to the same quality as before. Mr. Farmer was unable to understand what was happening and so he became irate upon discovery that customer satisfaction scores had dropped. At the next company meeting, he laid into Geetha, bringing her to tears in front of everyone. Geetha did not return to the work the next day.

Then the next.

Several days went by when suddently she showed back up to the work. She marched right into Mr. Farmer's office and, in complete silence, laid a hand written letter of resignation on his desk. She was gone as quickly as she came. She had been snapped up by another firm, satisfied with the work she had been producing, and committed to her that they would allow her to work on one team and project at a time, so they could get the best out of her. Over the next month, several other employees followed Geetha's lead. They were tired of being pushed to the brink all the time. Mr. Farmer's firm was left a shell of its former glory, and within the next year, they closed shop for good.

Moral of the Story: Trying to squeeze your employees to product beyond their means will only succeed in killing their spirits to keep trying. Be appreciative of the great work they produce when it comes, and don't just skip ahead to looking for more ways to get more out of them.