Excellence : Thinking, Anticipation and Desire to Add Value

Two sons work for their father on the family's poultry farm. The younger brother continued to get more responsibility and also reward for some years.

So one day, the elder brother asked his father as to why he does not get as much responsibility and reward. The father did not reply to his question and instead the father asked the elder son, "First, go to the Ramu’s farm and see if they have any birds for sale - we need to add to our stock."

The elder brother soon returns with the answer, "Yes they have five birds and they can sell to us." The father then says, "Good, please ask them the price." The son returns with the answer, "The birds are Rs. 20 each." The father says, "Good, now ask if they can deliver the birds tomorrow." And the son returns with the answer, "Yes, they can deliver the birds tomorrow."

The father then asked the elder brother to wait and listen, and then calls the younger brother, "Go to the Pandu’s Farm and see if they have any birds for sale - we need to add to our stock."

The younger brother soon returns with the answer, "Yes, they have five birds for Rs. 20 each or ten birds for Rs 15 each; and they can deliver them tomorrow - I have asked them to deliver five birds tomorrow unless they heard otherwise from us in the next two hours. And I have also agreed that if we want the extra five birds we could buy them at Rs 10 each."

The father turned to the elder son, who nodded his head in appreciation - he now realised why his brother was given more responsibility and reward.

The lesson to be taken from this story is of thinking and taking initiative, anticipating and adding value in the least possible time.