Before we dive into the following parable, we just have to say something about Thanksgiving and express our own bit of thanks. We are aware of our good fortune in being able to practice what we love to do. We believe the organizations we interact with are making a difference, for their employees, industry, and often the communities they serve. We are also blessed to witness the good work of our customers and consulting clients.
We are honored to have these relationships continue to develop. A client who we have consulted for in the past shared the following story with us. We pass it on with fondness.
The Reverend Fred Craddock, a remarkable preacher from Georgia, may have been imagining things, but he says this story really happened. Dr. Craddock was visiting the home of his niece and spotted an old greyhound dog there, just like those in the greyhound races. His niece had taken in the dog to prevent it from being destroyed because its racing days were over.
Dr. Craddock struck up a conversation with the dog:
“I said to the dog, are you still racing?”
“No,” he replied.
“Well, what was the matter? Did you get too old to race?”
“No, I still had some race in me.”
“Well, what then? Did you not win?”
“I won over a million dollars for my owner.”
“Well, what was it? Bad treatment?”
“Oh, no,” the dog said, “they treated us royally when we were racing.”
“Did you get crippled?”
“No.”
“Then why?” Craddock pressed, “Why?”
The dog answered, “I quit.”
“You quit?”
“Yes,” he said, “I quit.”
“Why did you quit?”
“I just quit. Because after all that running and running and running, I found out that the rabbit I was chasing wasn’t even real.”
This was shared with us in the context of the pace and intensity of work today. So, what is the purpose of your work? Are you chasing after the right goals and does the target encapsulate the reward? Make sure you know your rabbits are real and that those around you understand the difference.
Is your work effort geared toward an outcome that matters?
