Select Page

The Donkey and the Tiger

Two person debate in front of audience

At times, I used to get into arguments which lead me nowhere. These arguments lead to conflict and cost me time and relationships. Noticing this behavior of mine, my colleague narrated the story of “The Donkey and the Tiger“.

The donkey told the tiger: ′′The grass is blue”.

The tiger replied: ′′No, the grass is green”.

The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to the lion, King of the Jungle.

Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey started braying: ′′Your Highness, is it true that grass is blue?”.

The lion replied: “True, the grass is blue”.

The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me please punish him”.

The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence”.

The donkey jumped for joy and went on his way, content and repeating: ′′The grass is blue”…

The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion: ′′Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”

The lion replied: ′′In fact, the grass is green”.

The tiger asked: ′′So why do you punish me?”

The lion replied: ′′The punishment has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because you, a brave, intelligent creature, waste time arguing with a donkey, and then come and bother me with a silly question”.

From that point onwards, I try to avoid getting into conflict. And even when I get caught in one, I agree with the other person and will walk out politely.

It doesn’t mean that I have succumbed to a defeat. It is just that my/your time is more valuable than getting into unwanted arguments.

The book “How to win friends and influence people” was another eye-opener that helped me grow professionally and personally too.

by rameshkumarramachandran

Customer Officer | Revenue Expansion | Saas, Cloud Computing, Go-To-Market, Startups

11th September 2021

You May Also Like...

1 Comment

  1. Kannan RK

    A very valuable lesson…

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published.