The Three Fish
Posted on July 14, 2019 by Aditya Kuchibhotla, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
How we react to change determines how successful we are.
Here’s a story that I read when I was a child.
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There are three fish in a pond. One day, one of them overhears a conversation between two men going in a boat. Their conversation was about the great quality fish available in the pond and their plan to come back with their equipment to catch them.
This fish goes back to her other two friends and says “I heard two men planning to come here and catch fish in this pond. We should move fast to save ourselves. There’s an outlet to the river and we should use that to get out of this pond immediately. Come with me and all three of us will leave immediately”.
The other two think that their friend is over-reacting to the situation. Seeing no support from her friends, the first fish sets out on her own and leaves the pond.
However, the second fish is constantly keeping an eye to spot any suspicious activity. After some time, she sees two men approaching the pond with equipment to catch fish. She immediately rushes to her friend and says “Our friend was right, I see two men coming over to the pond with equipment to catch fish. Let’s move fast and escape”.
The third fish responds “I swim in deep waters and no equipment can catch me. If you are with me, you will be safe as well”.
The second fish, however, chooses to leave the pond immediately and the third fish is caught by the fishermen in no time.
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Isn’t this similar to how we react to change?
Some proactively keep investing in themselves so they’re prepared for any change
Few others see the change and react quickly to catch up with it
And the rest stay unmoved and become a casualty to the change
Those who constantly invest in themselves stay ahead of the curve. However, there’s a thin line between those who react and those who become a casualty – those who react are a bit more vigilant.
