Recently I came across an interesting story about life experience that I would like to share with you.
In the old days in Samoa, the island where I live and work in the middle of Pacific Ocean the main activity of its inhabitant was fishing. It was a so important sector within the region, that they developed the most important industry serving the whole area, and even some further countries.
The business was running very good, but one day the fishermen realized that they need to fish more quantity if they wanted satisfy the increasing demand of product. So, they agreed to fish far away from its territory. At the beginning it worked, but very soon, the complaints from the customers begun to arrive… the trip was so long (some weeks) that the quality of the fish was suffering, and this fact was hurting the business. As fish was caught, it was chucked into the fish bin where they flap and struggle as they slowly drown in the air. As more fish were caught they were thrown on top of the fish already dead and dying in the bin. The fish was 'cooked' in their own blood and slime…
After some thinking, the solution applied was to transport big quantities of ice to protect the product. It worked for a while, but at some point the customers begun to realize about the big difference between fresh fish and frozen fish… “If we want to sell high quality product, we must be able to deliver fresh fish” the wise fisherman tip say.
The fisherman group redesigned the business and implemented some big tanks of water inside the boat. Once they caught the fish, they put it into the tanks and it was supposed that it would be kept fresh during all the trip back to harbor. Again, the proposed solution had a very short success. After some trips, everybody observed that the fishes didn’t move (bored to death)… they were simply alive inside the pool… And that, one more time, was hurting the quality of the product. In order to get a good quality fresh fish, it must be moving (alive!) as long as possible.
This time was the Old Fisherman Chief who implemented the final solution… They put small sharks into the tanks: “motivation for the fishes” He said. These sharks kept the fish constantly moving, fresh and “motivated”. The problem was solved!
Have we ever thought that perhaps we also need a shark in our life?