The Mousetrap Way
This week's tip comes from the book "The Mousetrap Way" by Manoj Vasudevan. I was lucky enough to sit in on the session at the Toastmasters International Convention in Vancouver in 2017 (I believe) that was inspired by his book. I'm going to abbreviate it some to make for a shorter read.
Once upon a time there was a poor farmer who lived with his wife in a small house. One day the poor farmer bought a mouse trap because his wife had complained about the mouse in the house.
The mouse panicked and ran out into the yard where he saw the hen, the pig, and the cow. He ran up to the hen and said, “There’s a mousetrap in the house!”
The hen clucked, “Mr. Mouse, I understand that this is a grave concern to you but it is not my problem.”
The pig grunted, “I’m very sorry Mr. Mouse. There’s nothing I can do. Be assured you’re in my prayers.”
The cow said, “I’m so sorry for you Mr. Mouse but have you ever heard of a cow getting caught in a mousetrap? It’s not my problem.”
Late that very night there was a loud BANG! The mousetrap had been set off.
It was pitch dark in the house so when the farmer’s wife got up to get the mouse out of the trap, she couldn’t see what was in the trap.
A snake was caught in the trap. When she leaned down to pick up the trap the snake bit her!
Hearing his wife cry out the farmer rushed to the kitchen with a lantern. He saw the snake and killed it. But the damage had been done.
The farmer’s wife grew gravely ill with a fever. Thinking to make her feel better the farmer slaughtered the hen to make some nice chicken soup.
The next day family and friends flocked to the farm to see how the wife was doing. There were so many people the farmer had to slaughter the pig to feed everyone.
Sadly, two days later, the farmer’s wife passed away. So many people came to the funeral that the farmer had to butcher the cow to feed everyone.
The farmer was in a state of shock. All he wanted to do was kill the mouse to make his wife happy. But in the process he lost everything. He became sad, lonely, and depressed and lost the motivation to work.
Three months later the poor farmer passed away.
So what can we learn from this folk tale? RESPONSIBILITY.The mouse panicked and ran out into the yard where he saw the hen, the pig, and the cow. He ran up to the hen and said, “There’s a mousetrap in the house!”
The hen clucked, “Mr. Mouse, I understand that this is a grave concern to you but it is not my problem.”
The pig grunted, “I’m very sorry Mr. Mouse. There’s nothing I can do. Be assured you’re in my prayers.”
The cow said, “I’m so sorry for you Mr. Mouse but have you ever heard of a cow getting caught in a mousetrap? It’s not my problem.”
Late that very night there was a loud BANG! The mousetrap had been set off.
It was pitch dark in the house so when the farmer’s wife got up to get the mouse out of the trap, she couldn’t see what was in the trap.
A snake was caught in the trap. When she leaned down to pick up the trap the snake bit her!
Hearing his wife cry out the farmer rushed to the kitchen with a lantern. He saw the snake and killed it. But the damage had been done.
The farmer’s wife grew gravely ill with a fever. Thinking to make her feel better the farmer slaughtered the hen to make some nice chicken soup.
The next day family and friends flocked to the farm to see how the wife was doing. There were so many people the farmer had to slaughter the pig to feed everyone.
Sadly, two days later, the farmer’s wife passed away. So many people came to the funeral that the farmer had to butcher the cow to feed everyone.
The farmer was in a state of shock. All he wanted to do was kill the mouse to make his wife happy. But in the process he lost everything. He became sad, lonely, and depressed and lost the motivation to work.
Three months later the poor farmer passed away.
In an organization, ANY problem is EVERYONE'S problem. In the folk tale no one thought the mousetrap was their problem yet it turned out to be everyone's problem.
The #1 reason most clubs fail is because no one takes ownership of the club's problem(s). Getting guests to attend isn't MY responsibility, it's the VPPR's. Getting guests to become members isn't MY responsibility, it's the VPM's.
Here's the thing. If guests don't attend, they can't become members. If you don't get new members on a regular basis, existing members end up filling multiple roles at every meeting. They get burned out and eventually stop attending. The club dies.
This goes back to my theme for my District Director year, "Be the change". If you don't like what's going on in your club - what are you doing to change it?
Comments
Post a Comment