Once Upon a Business – Episode 89
Taste The Same
Lisa Bloom: Some children saw Nasruddin coming from the vineyard with two baskets full of grapes loaded on his donkey. They gathered around him and asked him to give them a taste.
Hi, I’m Lisa Bloom, the story coach, and you’re listening to Once Upon a Business. In each episode, we explore a story, a fairy tale, folk tale, or traditional story, so that we can discover the amazing lessons relevant for business and for entrepreneurs.
Nasruddin picked up a bunch of grapes and gave each child a grape. You have so much, but you gave us so little, the children whined. There’s no difference whether you have a basketful or a small piece. They all taste the same, Nasruddin answered, and continued on his way.
Another Hodja Nasruddin story where we get to enjoy the simplicity, brevity, and wisdom of the wise fool. It’s such a short story, and yet there’s so much here. Let’s break it down. As Nasruddin comes toward the children, they ask for a taste. So he gives them a grape each, which is literally a taste, exactly what they asked for, and yet they’re disappointed. I can relate to this so much. I’ve often found myself asking for something and then being disappointed that I got exactly what I asked for. I’ve realized that sometimes I need to be more literal and not assume that people understand the intention of my words rather than the words themselves. And yes, you can ask my partner about this for sure.
In business, we need to learn to speak clearly and communicate with more exact language. I think this is a lesson to learn when you have a team or even service providers to be able to ask for the exact outcome you need and try to have your language truly reflect your expectations. That’s certainly been a journey for me.
So back to the story, the children are disappointed because clearly they wanted more than one grape each. When I read this story, at first, I thought that Nasruddin was being mean, and I hate meanness. I always remember years ago, I worked in a local pub in Dublin. The owner was a fierce man who took a dislike to most people. His daughter was the manager who hired me. So that first night, when an older man worked beside me behind the bar, I assumed he was just another random bartender.
At the end of the night, he introduced himself as the manager’s father, the owner of the pub, and told me that he was just making sure that I was honest and decent, that I was doing a good job. We worked together now and then, and I didn’t treat him with any more or less respect than others I worked with, and I was honest. He liked me. On my last night there, he did the unimaginable. He offered me a drink on the house. As he served it to me, he said, I’ll give you one bit of advice, never marry a mean man. You can put up with nearly anything, but not meanness.
So meanness is a thing I’ve tried to avoid all my life, and hearing this story, it jumped out at me. But on second thoughts, I’m not sure it is exactly that. You see, I started to think that this was Nasruddin’s wisdom to the children. Don’t assume too much when you ask for something. Don’t be greedy. Or as my father would say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Another important lesson for business. It’s not easy, no matter who would tell you it is. I believe that building a business is hard and requires realistic expectations and true dedication. There are no shortcuts, and you do have to put in the time and effort.
For years, I thought that the next big thing would be the tipping point, that I would publish the book or do the keynote address or launch a program or get that big client, and then everything would be accomplished. The money would pour in and I could rest easy and the business would flow. But that’s never been the case. Instead, success has been cumulative. Every milestone counts. All the effort adds up, and consistent forward movement is the only thing that moves the dial, and none of it comes for free.
So the children are given one grape each. They get to taste how sweet they are and to know that this is an example of goodness that exists out there. Like in business, when we get a taste of what’s possible, it can be the basis for motivating us to create more, to go out and build more, to be successful. So Nasruddin is perhaps teaching the children that they, too, can go to the orchard and grow grapes. It’s the concept of clock building rather than time telling. This is from Jim Collins’s book, built to last. The idea of teaching a man to fish rather than giving him a fish.
If he were to give the children all the grapes they wanted, they would never need to know how to go out and grow and pick grapes for themselves. They would be dependent and lacking in resourcefulness. These are two incredibly important attributes to develop for the ability to function independently and the gift of resourcefulness. During my corporate career, my boss, Kieran, would never just give me the answer to the question I asked. He would always give me the tools or show me the way to find the answer myself.
And he was one of the best managers I ever had. I tried to do the same with my team. We should all embody independence and resourcefulness. So yes, go ahead and taste the grapes, but don’t forget to figure out how to harvest them for yourself.
I’m Lisa Bloom and you’ve been listening to Once Upon a Business. You can find out more about me at story-coach.com. That’s story-coach.com. Once Upon a Business is part of the Mirasee FM podcast Network, which also includes such shows as Consciousness Explored and Soul Savvy Business. To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Once Upon a Business, please like and follow us on Mirasee FM’s YouTube channel or your favourite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Thank you. We’ll see you next time.