Protect the Goose!

Probably most of you have heard it—the story about the goose that laid the golden eggs. And if for some reason you missed this wise tale, here is a quick summary courtesy of Wikipedia.

“A man and his wife had the good fortune to possess a goose which laid a golden egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it. Then, they thought, they could obtain the whole store of precious metal at once; however, upon cutting the goose open, they found its innards to be like that of any other goose.”

In today’s tough economy, I see too many companies going after the goose that lays the golden eggs. Often in an effort to adjust or make changes in order to save a business, we end up sacrificing long-term success for short-term sustainability. Unfortunately and too their eventual determent, companies across the globe are looking for cost savings at the expense of their often most precious assets, their people. And while they are busy with wage freezes, lay-offs, slashing of employee benefits, reductions on training and education, cutting celebration and recognition dollars, etc., smart business are picking up those most talented employees that are all part of this “golden goose” carnage. Rather than search for every other possible way to save and improve—which certainly exist in every organization—companies mistakenly choose to slit the throat of the golden goose because it is an easy and obvious target. My advice is to protect the goose at all costs and only when every other option has been fully exercised, and the only way to keep the doors open is to do it—only at that moment may it be appropriate to go after the goose—when it truly is the only option to survive, because once you do, the chances for long-term success are nearly zero.

Now learning form this, we can apply it to our personal lives. Certainly we have a goose or two in our lives that lay golden eggs. How about our education, our families, friends, or maybe even our faith? As things have gotten tougher have we began to go after the goose? Have we slowly begun to sacrifice our education, families, friends, or faith to try and “survive”? If so, we need to step back and realize the golden goose in our lives and then ensure we do all that we can to protect it. In this instance, never is anything worth the sacrifice of our golden goose in our personal lives because once we do, life loses its meaning.

So protect the golden goose! Do not be foolish like the man and woman in the wise tale. Instead be patient and have the discipline to know that killing the golden goose will never result in good. Now, more than ever is it time to protect the golden goose both in business and at home. Doing this will lead us to both happiness and greater success!