ONE DAY, MUGHAL EMPEROR SHAH JAHAN, WANTED TO CHECK ON THE PROGRESS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TAJ MAHAL.HE CHANGED INTO AN OLD MAN'S ATTIRE AND LEFT THE PALACE DISCREETLY.
WHEN HE REACHED THE CONSTRUCTION SITE, HE SAW THAT THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF STONE CUTTERS WORKING ON HUGE BLOCKS OF MARBLE.
HE WENT TO ONE STONE CUTTER AND ASKED HIM , "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". THE STONE CUTTER REPLIED, "DONT YOU SEE I AM BUSY?GO AWAY, OLD MAN".
SHAH JAHAN GOT IMPRESSED BY THE STONE CUTTER'S DETERMINATION AND URGENCY TOWARDS HIS WORK.
HE THEN WENT TO ANOTHER STONE CUTTER AND ASKED HIM THE SAME QUESTION.THE SECOND STONE CUTTER REPLIED,"STONE CUTTING AND CARVING IS AN ART.I CAN EITHER DO MY JOB, OR ANSWER YOUR IDLE QUESTIONS".
THE EMPEROR BECAME EVEN MORE IMPRESSED BY THIS ANSWER.
HE THEN NOTICED THAT A FEW STONE CUTTERS WERE WORKING ON A SINGLE LARGE BLOCK OF MARBLE.HE WENT TOWARDS THEM AND ASKED THE SAME QUESTION TO ONE OF THE STONE CUTTERS.HE REPLIED,"WE ARE BUILDING THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MONUMENT IN THE WORLD.WE CANT BE ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS.WE ARE BUILDING THE TAJ MAHAL.GO AWAY".
SHAH JAHAN HAD MET THREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE THAT DAY.
- THE FIRST STONE CUTTER REPRESENTS THE LARGE MASS OF PEOPLE WHO SET DAILY GOALS AND THEN MAKE EFFORTS TO FULFILL THEM.
- THE SECOND STONE CUTTER REPRESENTS THE RELATIVELY RARE CLASS OF PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE AND PERFECTION IN THEIR PROFESSION.THESE PEOPLE ENJOY THEIR JOB.THEY CONSTANTLY INNOVATE IDEAS AND PERFORM FOR THEIR OWN SATISFACTION.THEY SET HIGH STANDARDS AND GIVE QUALITY THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.
- THE THIRD STONE CUTTER REPRESENTS THE CATEGORY OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR A COMMON GOAL.THEY HAVE A SHARED VISION WHICH SERVES AS A MOTIVATION FOR THEIR OPERATIONS.AS THEY HAVE A BIGGER PICTURE IN MIND, THEIR STRATEGIES ARE REALISTIC AND STREAMLINED.THEY CHANNELISE THEIR EFFORTS AND THEIR COMBINED STRENGTH BECOMES GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS.
EVERY ORGANISATION REQUIRES THESE THREE TYPES OF EMPLOYEES.PLACING THE CORRECT KIND OF PERSON AT THE CORRECT HEIRARCHICAL POSITION IN AN ORGANISATION IS A PRIMARY PRE-REQUISITE FOR ALL OTHER OPERATIONS TO RUN SMOOTHLY.
PEOPLE LIKE THE FIRST STONE CUTTER ARE RELATIVELY EASY TO FIND.FINDING PEOPLE LIKE THE SECOND AND THE THIRD STONECUTTER IS A TOUGHER TASK.
AS PEOPLE BELONGING TO THE SECOND AND THE THIRD STONE CUTTER'S CATEGORY ARE RARE TO FIND, THEIR DEMAND IS ALWAYS HIGH.HENCE, A BIGGER CHALLENGE IS GETTING SUCH PEOPLE TO WORK FOR YOUR ORGANISATION.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGE APART FROM FINDING THE THREE TYPES OF STONE CUTTERS, IS TO FIND SUCH PEOPLE WHO CAN IDENTIFY THE STRENGTHS OF THE EMPLOYEES SO THAT THEY CAN BE TRAINED TO WORK AND THINK LIKE THE SECOND AND THE THIRD STONE CUTTERS.
TRAINING THE EMPLOYEES EARLY IN THEIR CAREERS WILL RESULT IN AN INDIGENOUS TALENT SOURCE THAT WILL ENABLE SUSTAINED DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORGANISATION.
(THE SHAH JAHAN STORY IS ALSO MENTIONED IN INDIA UNBOUND BY GURCHARAN DAS,PAGE 122)
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