Strategy vs. Tactics!

Ahmed and Hamid are both beggars at several motorway services in England.

Ahmed drives a Mercedes, lives in a mortgage free house and has a lot of money to spend.

Hamid only brings in 2 to 3 pounds a day.

Hamid asks Ahmed how he manages to bring home a suitcase full of £10 notes every day?!

Ahmed says, "Look at your sign. It says, 'I have no work, a wife and six kids to support.' Britons who see that do not feel as if they have accomplished anything by giving you money. You will still have no job and a large family! Now look at my sign."

So Hamid looks up and Ahmed's sign reads: "I only need another £10 to move back to Pakistan"

Let this be another lesson in thinking out of the box to solve your everyday 'problems'.

Read More...

Summary only...

How is Norma?

A sweet grandmother telephoned St. Joseph 's Hospital.

She timidly asked, "Is it possible to speak to someone who can tell me how a patient is doing?"

The operator said, "I'll be glad to help, dear. What's the name and room number of the patient?"

The grandmother in her weak, tremulous voice said, "Norma Findlay, Room 302."

The operator replied, "Let me put you on hold while I check with the nurse's station for that room."

After a few minutes, the operator returned to the phone and said, "I have good news. Her nurse just told me that Norma is doing well. Her blood pressure is fine; her blood work just came back normal and her physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged tomorrow."

The grandmother said, "Thank you. That's wonderful. I was so worried. God bless you for the good news."

The operator replied, "You're more than welcome. Is Norma your daughter?"

The grandmother said, "No, I'm Norma Findlay in Room 302. No one tells me anything."

Read More...

Summary only...

The coldest winter

It was autumn, and the tribals asked their new chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.

But since he was a chief in a modern society, he had not much wisdom to predict what the weather was going to be unlike his wise ancestors. So to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.

But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.

He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?'

'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed,' the weather man responded. So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again.

'Is it going to be a very cold winter?'

'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'It's definitely going to be a very cold winter.'

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again.

'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'

'Absolutely,' the man replied, 'It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, 'The tribals are collecting wood like crazy!'

A lot of phenomena happens like this in real world as well, and the lesson in this story should teach us one simple thing: It is good to believe the trends, consult 'experts', but in the end.. there's no subsitute for the wise man sitting inside of you.

Read More...

Summary only...

The backyard thieves

This one is a true lesson in lateral thinking:

George, an elderly man in late 60s, was going to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing  from me.
 
Then the police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your  doors and an officer will be along when one is available."
 
George said, "Okay."

He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again. "Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about  them now  because I just shot them." and he hung up.
 
Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at his residence,  and caught the burglars red-handed.
 
One of the Policemen said to George, "I thought you said that you'd shot  them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

Read More...

Summary only...

The other side

A father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world. He further tore it into smaller pieces and asked her to go to her room and put them together to make the map again. He was sure she would take the whole day to get it done. But the little one came back within minutes with perfect map!

When he asked how she could do it so quickly, she said, “Oh. Dad, there is a man's face on the other side of the paper. I made the face perfect to get the map right.” She ran outside to play leaving the father surprised.

There is always the other side to whatever you experience in this world. Whenever we come across a challenge or a puzzling situation, look at the other side. You will be surprised to see an easy way to tackle the problem.

Read More...

Summary only...

Source of the problem

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

"Here's what you do," said the doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens."

Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moves to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he gets no response so, He walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

"James, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Moral of the story: The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, it could be very much within us!

Read More...

Summary only...

Four apples

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?” Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, “Four!”

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. Maybe the child did not listen properly, she thought. She repeated, Arnav, listen carefully. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher’s face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four¦”

The disappointment stayed on the teacher’s face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn’t like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”

Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, “Three?”

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Promptly Arnav answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. “How Arnav, how?”, she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young Arnav replied, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion.

Read More...

Summary only...

The Woodcutter and the Axe - new version!

Once upon a time, there was a software engineer who used to develop programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a river. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday market. One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table and fell in the river. Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his childhood (the woodcutter and the axe), he started praying to the River Goddess.

The River Goddess wanted to test him and so appeared only after one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer told her that he had lost his computer in the river.

As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty. She showed him a match box and asked, "Is this your computer?" Disappointed by the Goddess' lack of computer awareness, the engineer replied, "No."

She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if that was his. Annoyed, the engineer said "No, not at all!!"

Finally, she came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his. The engineer, left with no option, sighed and said "Yes."

The River Goddess was happy with his honesty. She was about to give him all three items, but before she could make the offer, the engineer asked her, "Don't you know that you're supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up my own?"

The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, "I know that, you stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and the Billennium, the latest computers from IBM!" So saying, she disappeared with the Pentium!!

Moral: If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better keep your mouth shut than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!

Read More...

Summary only...

The bathtub sanity test

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was that defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized."Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him to empty the bathtub."

"Oh! I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the teaspoon and the teacup!"

"No," said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

Read More...

Summary only...

The coffin plan

A pretty woman was serving a life sentence in prison. Angry and resentful about her situation, she had decided that she would rather die than to live another year in prison.

Over the years she had become good friends with one of the prison caretakers. His job, among others, was to bury those prisoners who died in a graveyard just outside the prison walls. When a prisoner died, the caretaker rang a bell, which was heard by everyone, he then got the body, put it in a casket and nailed the lid shut. Finally, he put the casket on a wagon to take it to the graveyard to bury it.

Knowing this routine, the woman devised an escape plan and shared it with the caretaker.

The next time the bell rang, the woman would leave her cell and sneak into the dark room where the coffins were kept. She would slip into the coffin with the dead body while the caretaker was busy filling death certificate. When the care-taker would return, he would take the coffin outside and bury the dead body along with the woman. The woman knew there would be enough air for her to breathe until later in the evening when the caretaker would return to the graveyard under the cover of darkness, dig up the coffin, open it, and set her free!

The caretaker was reluctant initially, but since he had become good friends with her over the years, he agreed.

Day after day, the woman waited several weeks before someone in the prison died.

And it happened. It was her lucky day today! She was asleep in her cell when she heard the death bell ring. She got up quickly but slowly walked down the hallway.

Her heart was beating fast. She opened the door to the darkened room where the coffins were kept. Quietly in the dark, she found the coffin that contained the dead body, carefully climbed into the coffin and pulled the lid shut to wait for the caretaker to come and nail the lid shut.

Soon she heard footsteps and the pounding of the hammer and nails. Even though she was very uncomfortable in the coffin with the dead body, she knew that with each nail she was one step closer to freedom. The coffin was lifted onto the wagon and taken outside to the graveyard. She could feel the coffin being lowered into the ground. She didn't make a sound as the coffin hit the bottom of the grave with a thud. Finally she heard the dirt dropping onto the top of the wooden coffin, and she knew that it was only a matter of time until she would be free at last. After several minutes of absolute silence, she began to laugh. She was free! She was free! Feeling curious, she decided to light a match to find out the identity of the dead prisoner beside her.

And to her horror... she discovered... that she was lying next to the dead caretaker!

Many people believe they have life all figured out. But sometimes it just doesn't turn out the way they planned it. And that's where lateral thinking is needed. Always keep an alternative plan. Because you never know when you'll need it!

Read More...

Summary only...

Paper plane

Wow - that's the word to describe this movie!

It's not just about the way we see the world, but more about HOW we can change our perspective to open up a world of new and unlimited possibilities... just as Jeff did. Here's the link:

• http://blog.simpletruths.com/paperairplanemovie/

Read More...

Summary only...

Black pebble, White pebble

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.

The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.
2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.
3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. What would you recommend to the girl to do? Think and then proceed further.

Well, here is what she did:

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one!

Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we do not attempt to think the lateral way instead of the logical way.

Read More...

Summary only...

The car tyre

One night 4 students were playing till late night and didn't study for the test which was scheduled for the next day.

In the morning they thought of a plan. They made themselves look as dirty and weird as they could with grease and dirt. They then went up to the dean and said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their return the tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way back and that they were in no condition to appear for the test.

So the dean said they can have the retest after 3 days. The student's trick had worked! They said they will be ready by that time, and proudly went back.

On the third day they appeared before the dean. But the Dean explained that since this was a special condition test, all four were required to sit in separate classrooms for the test. They all nodded as they had prepared well in the last three days.

The test consisted of 2 questions with total of 100 marks:

Q1: Your name ......................... (2 marks)
Q2: Which tyre burst ............... (98 marks)

Read More...

Summary only...

You can fly, look upside!

If you put a buzzard in a pan six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

Ah, they are such wonderful creatures with strength to fly high and long, but their own limited perspective chains their very own strength to fly. In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there above them!

Read More...

Summary only...

Dumbest kid

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer,"This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."

The barber puts a five rupee coin in one hand and two one rupee coins(1+1=2) in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?"

The boy takes the two one rupee coins and leaves.

"What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take two one rupee coins instead of five rupee coin?"

The boy licked his cone and replied, "Because the day I take the five rupee coin, the game is over."

Now you decide who was the dumbest kid here!

At times when you undermine the capacity of those around you by calling them dumb, you are just making a fool of your pride.

Read More...

Summary only...

How to ask a question

Jack and Max are walking from religious service. Jack wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying.

Max replies, "Why don't you ask the Priest?"

So Jack goes up to the Priest and asks, " Father, may I smoke while I pray?"

The Priest replies, "No, my son, you may not! That's utter disrespect to our religion."

Jack goes back to his friend and tells him what the good Priest told him.

Max says, "I'm not surprised. You asked the wrong question. Let me try."

And so Max goes up to the Priest and asks, "Father, may I pray while I smoke ?"

To which the Priest eagerly replies, "By all means, my son. By all means. You can always pray whenever you want to."

Moral of the story is: The reply you get depends on the question you ask. For example, if you want a vacation when still working on a project don't ask for the holiday, rather ask "Can I keep working on this project while I'm on vacation?"

So you see, its not the question that is as important... its the way you ask that really matters!

Read More...

Summary only...

Big John doesn't pay

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, “Big John doesn't pay" and sat down at the back!

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek?

Well, he was.

Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened - Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the next. This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff.By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, “Big John doesn't pay." The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed,

“And why not???"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, “Big John has a bus pass."

Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one!

Read More...

Summary only...

The potato garden

An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison.

To share his feelings, the old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation..

"Dear Son, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.
-Love, Dad"

Shortly, the old man received this telegram: "For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden! That's where I buried the GUNS!"

At 4 a.m, the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns.

Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next. His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad. It's the best I could do for you from here."

Moral Of the Story: No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something from your heart--you can do it.

Read More...

Summary only...

The Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up. Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have
4. Give more
5. Expect less

Read More...

Summary only...

Make this decision

Imagine this: a group of children are playing near two railway tracks, one still in use and the other unused. Only one child is playing on the unused track, the rest on the operational track. A train comes and you are just beside the track changer. You can make the train change its course to the unused track and save most of the kids. However that would also mean the lone child playing on the unused track would be killed. Will you let the train go on its way or switch its tracks?

Please pause for a minute and take a decision.

Many of us might choose to divert the course of the train and sacrifice only one child because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child is a rational decision that most people would make morally and emotionally. But have you ever thought the child choosing to play on the unused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, in the community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority (here the word does not mean the contempory political word-'minority') is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how ignorant the majority is, and how far-sighted and knowledgeable the minority is. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in case he was sacrificed, no one would shed tear for him.

The kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that the track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all the passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids. While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right ones.

REMEMBER: "What's right isn't popular..... And what's popular isn't always right"

Read More...

Summary only...