“the advisor and the rower”
once upon a time, there were two friends. they were raised together. they learned everything together. as time went by, the two friends grew apart, as it happens with all friends as they grow and go along with their lives. the first friend found pleasure in learning. by doing this, he invested a good part of his time in education and studying. the second one decided that he wouldn’t dedicate himself so much to studying. in school, he’d pass his classes but not by much. he always did what his inner voice told him, doing first what he wanted and then, with the rest of the time, completing his obligations.
one day, the kingdom called in for new servants. the two friends were accepted. the first friend was hired as one of the king’s advisors. the second one, as one of the king’s rowers.
one day, the king and his workers embarked on a trip at sea. as the rowers were sweating to make the ship move foward, the rower looked back to see his friend, talking to the king as his advisor. he was shaken and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. he complained to his friend: “look at the king’s advisors. all they do is talk all day while entitling themselves important strategic king’s men. why is it that we have to sweat all day to move this whole ship forward and all they do is talk? that is not fair.”
they kept going until nighttime fell. the rower was awaken from his sleep, in the middle of the night, by the king himself. the king said: “there is a strange noise coming from that direction, pointing to land. i can’t sleep. can you please go over there and find out what’s happening?”
the rower jumped off the boat and went swimming onto land. he came back a few mins later with the following information: “it’s nothing, your majesty. just some people cutting down trees, hence the noise.”
the king asked: “rower, how many people are there?”
the rower hadn’t looked carefully enough so he jumped off the boat again, swam to the beach again and said: “21, your majesty.”
the king asked: “what kind of trees are they chopping down?”
again, he forgot take notice. he jumped off the boat, swam to the beach and came back: “pine trees, your majesty.” the king asked: “why are they cutting down trees?”
again he went and “to sell, your majesty.” this went on until, at some point, the two of them went to the other friend, the advisor, and woke him up. the king said: “there is a strange noise coming from that direction, pointing to land. i can’t sleep. can you please go over there and find out what’s happening?”
the advisor jumped off the boat and went swimming onto land. he came back a few mins later with the following information: “it’s some people cutting down trees, your majesty.” the king asked: “advisor, how many people are there?”
the rower answered: “21, your majesty.” the king asked: “what kind of trees are they chopping down?” the rower answered: “pine trees, your majesty. excellent for building houses.” the king asked: “my advisor, why are they cutting down trees?” “to negotiate, your majesty. the pine trees they’re cutting are the from the mayor’s lot, he cuts them every two years. the chopping is authorized, he showed me the papers. he apologized for the noise and asks your majesty for breakfast tomorrow morning and says he’ll be prepared to receive you.”
the king looked at the rower and said: “rower, i heard your complaints. yes, we are all sons of god but all sons of god have their work to do. i had to send you various times to land to get answers from you. my advisor went only once. and that is why he is my strategic advisor and you take the oars of the ship.”
as the tale of the rower and the advisor shows us, we each have our own potentials. we cover different needs of every company. but deep inside us don’t we have an inkling of prejudice that does tell us that the advisor is somehow “better” than the rower. why??
