Alex Stetsenko

Few days ago I ran into another interesting parable:

I once went to a circus and saw a huge elephant tied to a small pole with a rope, just standing there. So I wondered why is the elephant so obedient and doesn’t break away from the stick with all of its enormous strength and mass. So they told me this story: once when the elephant was very young, it was tied to the pole the same way. Naturally, it didn’t like that and tried to escape, but try as it might, the rope and the pole were too strong for it. So the elephant eventually gave up.

Later on, when it was older, the elephant still believed it could not escape from the rope, and remained standing in the same place, despite the fact it could then easily escape.

Interesting, ha? It is said something like past performance does not guarantee future results. Which usually means being successful in the past does not imply success within another company or just in future. However this parable is a wonderful example of the opposite. So it is important to realize what one may now be capable of doing regardless past experience.

It’s almost like being Agile: fail early and then start a new sprint. 🙂