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Elephant Constraints
Vivek Paul, the CEO of Wipro, one of the biggest IT companies based in India says that he got the best advice in his life from an elephant trainer:The best advice I ever got was from an elephant trainer in the jungle outside Bangalore. I was doing a hike through the jungle as a tourist. I saw these large elephants tethered to a small stake.Joseph Sugarman, one of the masters of copywriting had naratted a similar story in his book "Advertising Secrets of the Written Word." Elephants never forget. And as a baby elephant grows older, she never forgets the failure of freeing herself from being tied down. She remembers the pain. And so, even when she grows up and finds that she is anchored to a spot again, she would think that its impossible to become free, and not even try to break free!
I asked him "How can you keep such a large elephant tied to such a small stake?"
He said "When the elephants are small, they try to pull out the stake and they fail. When they grow large, they never try to pull out the stake again."
That parable reminds me that we have to go for what we think we’re fully capable of, not limit ourselves by what we’ve been in the past.
The problem is, every human is also affected by some such "elephantal constraints." They have emotional barriers that stop them from crossing an invisible chasm.
Don Alm knows this. Don Alm, a master salesman, uses the "elephant constraint" psychology while hiring salespeople.
He says: "People have a tendency to reach a certain income level and stay there" and so "If a person made $100,000 selling ANYTHING...he could make $100,000 selling MY program!"
Don noticed that one guy who used to make $2,000 a month, once made $2,000 within 2 weeks. And suddenly, after those 2 good weeks, his production came to a halt. The guy started finding all sorts of excuses to not sell anything for the rest of the month!
Don noticed this time and time again.
So, now Don trains others to sell his ideas and products based on their past income generation history. If they made $100,000 a year, Don would take them on - even if they don't have any prior sales experience.
Action Summary:
2 things to take away from this post:
- Hire employees who have generated a higher income in their past and they will do a lot better for you, even if they aren't familiar with your industry.
- Determine if you are facing any mental barrier that you can't cross. And then cross them. Determine "what you can't do." And then do it. (Think you can't dance well? I'll tell you: thats hogwash. A good dance teacher can train you to dance like a pro in no time. But first, you have to get rid of your mental barriers. Crush your elephantal constraints. Break away from the invisible stakes and ropes. Then find a good teacher who can guide you.)
Email Post to a friendPosted on 5/10/2005 | Permalink | |
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