Who is the More Valuable Employee?
December 2nd, 2005 by 
Administrator
I was reading this story to my kid, when it occured to me that sometimes values may differ, and sometimes, we have to look into things twice to make sure that we are teaching the right lessons. What do you think?
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There was once a king who wanted to choose a successor among his two sons. So he called them forward, and told them.
“I am getting old. I am giving each of you a flower pot, and a flower seed. After two months, who have the better looking flower will succeed me in my throne.”
After two months, both sons stood before him. One was bringing along a flower pot with a very nicely grown and blooming flower. The other was holding an empty pot.
“Why,” the king asked, ” What happened?”
“My father, ” said the son, ” I planted the seed diligently, water it everybday, and put my utmost care of it. I am really sorry, but the flower just won’t grow!”
“My son, ” the king said, ” You are the honest one. The truth is that the seeds I have given to you are both defective ones. So it could not have grown. I am looking at an heir that is foremost going to be honest king, and you, in spite of the odds, have chosen to be that, so you will be my next heir.”
So that is the story. But what if you were a manager in today’s corporation? When you give an instruction, do you want your people to stupidly waste their time plogging on something that is not working, or would you rather have people who have the initiative to fix things up, and get things going? Do you think the first son, who had the initiative and knowledge to know immediately that caring for the seed was just a waste of time, and therefore did his job of replacing a defective seed with a good one, would really be the employee you prefer to work with?
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Posted in On Life | 
December 2nd, 2005 at 2:14 pm
i say fire the dude with the flower and give the honest one a raise from the money saved firing the other fellow.
but i am sure others in the business world would disagree.
nice blog.
December 2nd, 2005 at 2:56 pm
If the first son was just honest enough to tell the truth that he has replaced the seed because it was defective, then the kingdom would have had a king who is honest, intelligent and creative. In the real world (not only in business), an articulate speaker is as important as the other good traits.
December 3rd, 2005 at 3:27 am
Are you not really asking whether honesty has any value in the business world? I am old and stupid enough to believe that it has…
December 3rd, 2005 at 6:33 am
I believe a better employee would take the initiative to report on the status regularly before the due date. However, he has to be independent in resolving the issue first. He would request assistance or discuss openly with his supervisor only after he has exhausted all other options.
December 3rd, 2005 at 7:54 am
Thanks
So far, I think what I have heard in here, and other forums is that knowing properly how to communicate, whether upwards and downwards is important.
December 5th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
Either way, I’d say the old King epitomizes the bad manager, because he didn’t follow through with what he said he would do, which sets a bad example, is bad for morale, etc. He said he would pass the throne to the son with the better looking flower, not the better looking flower *from the provided seed* — thus the son who returned with a flower (no matter how beautiful or ugly) correctly and honestly fulfilled his mission and the son who returned without a flower was clearly either lazy or too short-sighted to see that he could complete his assignment despite having obstacles. To this extent, if the old King had provided two viable dandelion seeds and one son returned with a rose (if we accept for the sake of argument that a rose is “better looking” than a dandelion), the rose-bearer should still have won the contest for the throne, which would be sensible because he was far-sighted enough to realize there are multiple paths and the best path is not necessarily the one shown to us by others.
December 7th, 2005 at 9:00 am
[...] - Who is the More Valuable Employee? [...]
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:05 pm
The king never said the flower had to be grown from the provided seed. I’d give a raise to the son with the flower. Why not? The son did what was asked.
December 30th, 2005 at 1:39 am
the first son just follow his father’s instruction but in a unhonest way. in a real world you must use your head to save your business and to achieve your goal.
January 11th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
well, honesty is still the best policy for me, either in a personal or business aspect. it is not good to gain something out of cheating or at other’s expense. everything we do, whether intentional or not, will surely come back in a form of a ‘karma’.
February 6th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
[...] Two months ago, I narrated a fable in which I asked after the story, based on their performance, Who is the More Valuable Employee? . I would like to relate this time a real life experience. My choice is obvious. What about yours? [...]
February 28th, 2006 at 3:25 am
Ah, but the sad part of this story is that the corporate world doesn’t reward honesty. And the poor person that admitted his non-success would have been belittled.
Nice blog. If you’re reading blogs, I welcome comments on mine. Sign up on the frappr map so I know you were there.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:45 am
the point is honesty, not innovation.
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