Did you sharpen your axe today?

They say, the greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling. Even if we heard the story before, we are always eager to listen to it one more time, especially, if you have a good story teller. A similar incident happened to me.

 It was a Saturday evening, we had hosted a get together for some close family friends and were thoroughly enjoying the evening. As night came by, it was time for the kids to have their dinner. These are grown up kids - in school and some of them are teenagers too. We were too busy enjoying the party and didn’t bother much about them. So my mom, being the grand mom, stepped in to do her bit and took charge of making sure they had their dinner in time with minimum fuss. Her way of doing this is by telling them a story, which even the kids were surprised to hear, given, they only read stories online or watch! listening to stories was a welcome change.

 And so the story started –

Once upon a time, there lived a wood cutter who went in search of a job and came across a timber merchant who gave him the job. The pay was good, the merchant seemed to be a good person, the wood cutter thought. So, with the energy of a new hire, eager to prove his mettle, he cut 10 trees and brought the wood in the evening. The timber merchant was very impressed, appreciated him and gave him his wages for the day. The appreciation made the wood cutter very happy and he wanted to do even more the next day. So, he set out to cut more trees. However, he was able to cut only 8 trees. The third day, he was able to cut even fewer. This continued for some days, until the timber merchant came by and told him that he needs to improve his performance.

 The wood cutter needed the job and so he worked harder, he was stressed that he may not be able to do well, and worked even during his lunch break and tea breaks to make sure he was able to meet the target. When he couldn’t meet it, he thought to himself, that he was losing his strength. Eventually, he went to the merchant and told him that he needs more time and he can only do so much or he is willing to quit and handed over the axe. The timber merchant looked at the woodcutter who was upset, and looked at the axe and asked him one simple question

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe”? The wood cutter responded, “Sharpened my axe, I did not, why? I have been too busy working, trying to cut down trees”.

My mom then went on to explain the moral to the kids that – “you should take time to sharpen your axe, else you will become obsolete. We need to give enough rest to the body, eat good food, drink enough water, avoid junk food, indulge in outdoor activities so our body gets enough exercise etc”.

I was listening to her as well. I think this is a life lesson. And more apt for professionals like us. We get too busy, just going to office, finishing up work and getting back home, and this routine continues. If we don’t learn, don’t upgrade and don’t build our skills, we will probably be doing the same job, in the same way and may not be productive at all. Do take time to introspect, to learn and apply tools that can make you smarter. As HR professionals, we have a wonderful opportunity to create a culture that focuses on sharpening the skills and while we do this for the rest of the organisation, we shouldn’t forget to focus on ourselves too â€“ So, when was the last time you sharpened your axe?