(Part of our weekly Sufi Wisdom series. T.L. James is moving, so I'm taking this on again for the next few weeks.)
Today's wisdom comes from the popular folk tales of Hodja, a.k.a. Nasreddin Hodja, a.k.a Mullah Nasruddin, via Fadiman & Frager's Essential Sufism. Like all Sufi stories, it has multiple layers of meaning, one of which makes it a useful story to tell in business:
Hodja wanted to learn how to play the lute. So he approached a music teacher and asked him, "How much do you charge for private lute lessons?"
"Three silver pieces for the first month; then after that, one silver piece a month."
"Oh, that's very fair," exclaimed Hodja, "I'll start with the second month."
The thing about telling this story in a business context is that the people it's aimed at just laugh, and don't notice the barb. But this story has other meanings and analogies as well. Care to share your thoughts in the Comments section?
Joe, what a good story! :)
Our culture is rife with examples of this thinking-- No one is willing to make the initial expenditure, whether it be time or treasure or discipline of learning. Everyone wants to be an instant expert, without paying the cost.
We have the joke that is a blurred reflection of this parable.
A civil servant goes out in the country on a fishing trip. At a fishing camp, he stops in a store to buy bait.
"How much for bait?" he asks the proprietor.
"One dollar for all the worms you can dig," is the answer.
"Great! I'll take two dollars worth."
It is like all the people who want to go to Heaven, but do not want to take the step which will get one there.