Rabbit & Tortoise - Part 1

I believe everyone is familiar with the Aesop fable about the rabbit who lost a race to the tortoise due to his complacency. Management lesson from the tale is that slow and steady will win you the race sometimes (catching your competitor off guard) Alternatively, the lesson could be complacency will loose you the race. However, do you know that the story did not end there? At least not for Management readers......

As it turned out, Mr Rabbit was not happy with his lost. He went for soul searching and came out of it determined to beat Mr Tortoise the way it should be. Learning from defeat well, he knew he should not be complacent this time around. For Mr Tortoise there is nothing to loose, so he accepted the rematch. From the starting line to the finishing line, Mr Rabbit lead by miles. The spectators when wild but this is the expected outcome anyway...no surprises this time. The media decided not to publish the story as main headlines, instead it goes few pages inside the sport section and just a paragraph announcing Mr Rabbit win.  Lesson: fast and steady will definitely win you the race...no doubt. 

Efficiency is the key to success......is it the only key?  Well, not quite. Remember this is a Management Lesson. Do you think a person like Mr Tortoise could stand being the loser all the time? Yes, he won once and it feels good. He wished he could win again and bask in glory. This time around it was Mr Tortoise that went for soul searching with the vision of winning. With the mission to beat Mr Rabbit, he came out with a winning strategy and prepared for the challenge. Mr Rabbit, accepted the  challenge. On the race day, Mr Tortoise made a request to the organizer to change the race route. No objection from Mr Rabbit thinking that as long as he remember lessons from the previous two races, he will surely win this race as he should in any race with Mr Tortoise. The new route was announced.....spectators and fans alike lined the route. Both competitors get set, ready, GO! As expected, Mr Rabbit left Mr Tortoise eating his dust. Half way through the race, Mr Rabbit stopped but why?

(Tune in later to find out........)