Humanizing Rules

CHAPTER 1A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

Gone Fishing

In a short story called “An anecdote on the lowering of productivity at work”,¹ German author Heinrich Böll tells the story of a tourist who comes across a fisherman sitting idly on his boat. The tourist asks the fisherman why he's not out fishing. The fisherman explains that he's already caught enough fish for two days. Unsolicited, the tourist offers his opinion, telling the fisherman that if he worked harder, he could build up a fishing empire. The fisherman asks him what would happen then. The tourist tells him he will be able to retire and relax on his boat. “But,” says the fisherman, “I'm already doing that!” The tourist walks away, reflecting on how he used to think that the reason he worked was to one day not have to work.

Though it wasn't Böll's motivation for writing the story,² it's a good illustration of the power of perception. Two people can look at the same situation and draw entirely different conclusions. From the tourist's perspective, the fisherman is lazy and unproductive. From the fisherman's perspective, his lifestyle suits him perfectly. By the end, the tourist starts seeing things as the fisherman does.

In this book, I'm going to help you become the tourist. Not to observe a fisherman who prioritises his work‐life balance but to obtain insights into what your employees think about the rules that you are asking them to comply with. By obtaining those insights, we'll be able to find ways of asking them, which ...