| Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an | | | | change the playing field to suit your core |
| argument about who was faster. They decided to | | | | competency. |
| settle the argument with a race. They agreed on | | | | In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, |
| a route and started off the race. | | | | make sure you create opportunities to give |
| The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some | | | | presentations that enable the senior management |
| time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the | | | | to notice you. |
| tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for | | | | If your strength is analysis, make sure you do |
| some time and relax beforecontinuing the race. | | | | some sort of research, make a report and send |
| He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The | | | | it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only |
| tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon | | | | get you noticed but will also create opportunities |
| finished the race, emerging as the undisputed | | | | for growth and advancement. |
| champ. | | | | The story still hasn't ended. |
| The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the | | | | The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had |
| race. | | | | become pretty good friends and they did some |
| The moral of the story is that slow and steady | | | | thinking together. Both realised that the last race |
| wins the race. | | | | could have been run much better. |
| This is the version of the story that we've all | | | | So they decided to do the last race again, but to |
| grown up with. | | | | run as a team this time. |
| But then recently, someone told me a more | | | | They started off, and this time the hare carried |
| interesting version of this story. It continues. | | | | the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise |
| The hare was disappointed at losing the race and | | | | took over and swam across with the hare on his |
| he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause | | | | back. |
| Analysis). | | | | On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the |
| He realised that he'd lost the race only because | | | | tortoise and they reached the finishing line |
| he had been overconfident, careless and lax.If he | | | | together. They both felt a greater sense of |
| had not taken things for granted, there's no way | | | | satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. |
| the tortoise could have beaten him. | | | | The moral of the story? |
| So he challenged the tortoise to another race. | | | | It's good to be individually brilliant and to have |
| The tortoise agreed. | | | | strong core competencies; but unless you're able |
| This time, the hare went all out and ran without | | | | to work in a team and harness each other's core |
| stopping from start to finish. He won by several | | | | competencies, you'll always perform below par |
| miles. | | | | because there will always be situations at which |
| The moral of the story？ | | | | you'll do poorly and someone else does well. |
| Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and | | | | Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, |
| steady. | | | | letting the person with the relevant core |
| If you have two people in your organisation, one | | | | competency for a situation take leadership. |
| slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast | | | | There are more lessons to be learnt from this |
| and still reliable at what he does, the fast and | | | | story. |
| reliable chap will consistently climb the | | | | Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave |
| organisational ladder faster than the slow, | | | | up after failures. The hare decided to work harder |
| methodical chap. | | | | and put in more effort after his failure. |
| It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to | | | | The tortoise changed his strategy because he |
| be fast and reliable. | | | | was already working as hard as he could. In life, |
| But the story doesn't end here. | | | | when faced with failure, sometimes it is |
| The tortoise did some thinking this time, and | | | | appropriate to work harder and put in more |
| realised that there's no way he can beat the hare | | | | effort |
| in a race the way it was currently formatted. | | | | Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy |
| He thought for a while, and then challenged the | | | | and try something different. And sometimes it is |
| hare to another race, but on a slightly different | | | | appropriate to do both. |
| route. | | | | The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital |
| The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping | | | | lesson. When we stop competing against a rival |
| with his self-made commitment to be consistently | | | | and instead start competing against the situation, |
| fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until | | | | we perform far better. |
| he came to a broad river. | | | | To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise |
| The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on | | | | teaches us many things. |
| the other side of the river. | | | | Important lessons are:othat fast and consistent |
| The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the | | | | will always beat slow and steady;owork to your |
| meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the | | | | competencies;opooling resources and working as a |
| river, swam to the opposite bank, continued | | | | team will always beat individual performers;onever |
| walking and finished the race. | | | | give up when faced with failure;oand finally, |
| The moral of the story? | | | | compete against the situation. Not against a rival. |
| First identify your core competency and then | | | | |