Race

The Hare and The Tortoise

Once upon a time a hare and a tortoise had an argument about who is faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race.

The hare and tortoise both agreed on a route and started off the race.

The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time.

Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise. He thought he’d sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.

He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep.

The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race emerging as the undisputed champ.

The hare woke up and realized that he’d lost the race.

The moral of the story is that

Slow and steady wins the race.

BUT version of the story continues…

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some thinking.

He realized that he’d lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and relax.

If he had not taken things for granted, there’s no way the tortoise could have beaten him.

So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish.

He won by several miles.

The moral of the story?

Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.

Its good to be slow and steady; but it’s better to be fast and reliable


But, the story doesn’t end here

The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there’s no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.

He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on slightly different route.

The hare agreed.

The hare and tortoise started off.

In keeping with his self–made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.

The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral of the story?

First identify your core competency (SWOT analysis) and then act accordingly


The story still hadn't ended….

The hare and tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together.

Both realized that the last race could have been run much better.

So the hare and tortoise decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank.

There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back.

On the apposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together.

Both the hare and tortoise felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they’d felt earlier.

The moral of the story?

"The strength of the team is each member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson