The Story of the Broken Chair
Once upon a time there was a beautiful chair. But over years of use, the beautiful chair began to get tired and weak. One day, the old, once beautiful chair, broke. No one could sit in the chair any more. Something inside, something vital, broke and made the seat of the chair wobbly and unstable. The chair became so afraid. “If I’m a broken, wobbly chair, my owner won’t want me,” the chair thought. The chair worried it would be taken to the trash where it would live out the remainder of its days in forgotten loneliness.
But the chair’s owner had an interesting idea. He would keep the chair. He would use it to test the personalities of those who worked for him. The chair would be very helpful in determining how the chair’s owner would deal with his employees.
The chair soon became integral to identifying 3 personality types working for the owner.
The 3 personality types the chair was instrumental in defining were: Whiners, Winnowers, and Winners. The chair was delighted!
The owner was so happy with the results the chair provided, he kept the chair in his office just as a reminder of those great days of discovery.
Many months later, during vacation time, the chair sat alone in the empty office remembering the discoveries they made together.
The chair began by remembering the Whiners.
He remembered the Whiners were those who would rather wobble than win. Whiners loved to sit in their brokenness and whine about how bad things were rather than do anything that would bring positive change. Whiners not only saw the glass as half empty, those chronic complainers saw the glass as slightly chipped holding water that wasn't cold enough, probably because it's tap water when what they wanted was bottled water; and wait, there's a smudge on the rim, which means the glass wasn't cleaned properly and now I'll probably end up with some kind of virus. Why do these things always happen to me?!
The chair remembered that nothing makes chronic complainers happier than being more miserable than anyone else in the room. Their constant negativity can be a huge challenge for those around them because their complaining is not only an emotional drain but a financial drain.
Negativity is the thief of productivity.
The chair then remembered about the second personality type, the Winnowers.
Winnowers are those who are penny wise and pound foolish with their time. The old chair recalled his owner reciting something Jim Rohn had written: “We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things. Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
Winnowers wasted time trying to fix the chair. They turned it upside down—which always made the chair a little woozy. They looked underneath to see if it could be repaired. Even though it was quickly learned they were wasting valuable time, they continued to search for a possible long-term solution to what was really only a minor irritation to the owner.
With a wistful smile, the chair then remembered the Winners.
Winners were those who would rather not bother with complaining about the wobbly chair, and who quickly recognized the best solution was to replace the chair, not wasting precious time attempting to repair it. The winner’s approach could have been seen as being a bit lavish in the short-term. But Its expedience, provided greater opportunity and productivity in the long-run.
“Ah well,” the chair sighed. There will always be Whiners and Winnowers who complain and waste time. But finding out who they are is the first step to turning them into Winners. Because that’s who we ALL should be. The end!
