Sharpening the Saw

Last week I atttend a seminar related to my work. I found this seminar very refreshing to get the mind working again. I call attending these seminars Sharpening the Saw. Your probably asking your self what does he mean by Sharpening the Saw. I will tell this through a story I once herd. The Author of this story is unknown to me. In the Depression years of our county the common phrase was go west young man. To young people decided to follow this advice and headed west. For the purpose of this story we will call them John and Mike. When they got to BC they got off the train and went looking for work at the local farms. They came upon a farm with a sign out front that said farm hand needed. The two men went to the front door and asked for the job. The farmer indicated that he only had one job available. The farmer took the two men behind the farm house. There there was two equal piles of wood .the farmer said he would give each man an axe and the man who cut more wood in the next three hours wood get the farm hands job. The first man, whom we will call John was six 6’4”four inches tall two hundred fifty pounds and very muscular in build said this will be easy. The second man, Mike is five feet nine inches tall, 185lbs. John and Mike took their axes and started chopping. After 45 minutes the John looked over to see how well Mike was doing. John noticed Mike going into the barn. John thought this is going to be really easy. Mike is taking to many breaks John thought. . John turned and started chopping more wood. After 2 hours the john looked over at Mike again. This time he noticed Mike coming back from the barn. He thought wow Mike is crazy to take another break. He turned and kept on chopping. At the end of the three hours the farmer came out to see who had chopped more wood. John said to the farmer he was going to like working on the farm with him. The farmer said to john unfortunately, that Mike had actually won the contest. John looked surprised and said how could that be. He went over to look at the pile of wood Mike chopped. It was twice the size as John’s John turned and looked at Mike in amazement. He said how did you cut that much more wood than me. Every time I looked over to see how well you were doing. You were off taking a break in the barn. Mike replied I was not taking a break in the barn. I went in the barn to sharpen my axe every half our. This allowed me to chop more would in a shorter period of time.
How often do you sharpen your saw. We do not always have the anwsers to all the questions being asked. I have three suggestions to consider when attending seminars. 1- I suggested that you attend a seminar every quarter.2- I suggested that you attend seminars that are not directly related to your work or industry. You may find something that is being used in a different industry that can be used in your business. Many walks of our life are interchangeable within our lives. I use techniques from work when coaching my kids in sports.3-Most important, go tho these seminars with an open mind that you may find something useful for yourself. If you do not go in with this attitude do not attend.
Remember to sharpen your saw regularly.