I worry that my recent attempts to rewrite a few morals from Aesop’s Fables might come off as mocking so I thought I would take a different approach today – here's a story I thought got it spot-on.
'The Lion and The Dolphin' – one day, a lion at the beach notices a dolphin. He notes their complimentary skills – the lion is strong on land while the dolphin patrols the sea. The lion proposes an alliance and the dolphin accepts.
Later, the lion, long at war with a bull, calls on the dolphin to help. The dolphin does not help and the lion is enraged. The dolphin responds – don’t blame me, blame nature, who has not allowed me to walk on land.
Moral: Make alliances with those who can come to our aid in times of danger.
The basic point of this story is simple – a lot of times, we do things ‘just because’ and fail to think through it properly as a result. Alliance making is one of those things because it seems better to have allies than to not. But if the allies cannot help us, all we’ve done is taken on additional obligation for no benefit. Think of how vulnerable the lion will be when paddling out into the sea to help the dolphin!
The importance of complimentary skill sets is another such thing. Again, it seems better to have complimentary skills with those we partner with. But it is important to understand the purpose of the partnership. If the need is for basic manpower, the blind insistence on finding good compliments will serve as a distraction rather than a guide.
