Who or what do you invest in?
I just read the most amazing story that I simply must share with you.
“A man goes off on a long business trip. He sends a memo round to three of his staff, calling them into the office. They arrive and he tells them, “I’ve sold my stake in the business and I need you guys to look after the dose while I am away.” He pulls out three briefcases and starts handing them out. The first guy(a real talent) gets a case stuffed with 500 grand’s worth of crisp notes; the second guy( good, but not outstanding) gets 200 grand, and the last guy (steady) gets just 100 grand. The boss says, “I’m off” and leaves them staring at each other in shock.
The first guy goes off to read up on his investment mags; he picks the brains of financial advisors and eventually comes up with a detailed investment portfolio. After a while he’s doubled his 400 grand. He’s well happy. The second guy goes off and puts together a strategy. And likewise, doubles his money. The third guy however bottles. He thinks, “what if the market crashes? What if there’s a run on the banks? What if I buy gold and they discover an enormous gold mine lying under every garden in the city and the gold price plummets?” So he buys a safe, stuffs the money inside and buries it in his back garden.
Ages later the boss returns, rings round the three, “I’m back; let’s meet, usual place.” The first sits there looking smug and says, “you gave me 500 grand and I’ve done a bit of wheeling and dealing, ducking and diving, dodging and weaving- all legal of course- and I’ve doubled your money. He hands over two briefcases. his boss says, “well done. You’ve proved yourself, now you get to manage bigger projects for me. you and me, we’ve got good times lined up.”The second guy, also looking pleased with himself, says, “You gave me 200 grand and I’ve doubled your money as well.” Handing the boss the case he says, “There’s 400 grand in there.” Likewise, his boss is impressed: “well done. I’ve got some good projects for you too. You’ll have nothing to worry about from now on.”
The third guy is twitching by now. The boss turns to him and says, “…and?”
“…and you only gave me 100 grand,” he mumbles.
“And what did you do with it?” frowns the boss.
“Well I’ve heard rumours about your middle name being “ruthless” and how you can’t be doing with losers and I didn’t want to risk losing the cash so I buried it in a safe place. It’s all here, not a fiver missing, the whole caboodle.”
The boss is fuming: “You lily-livered, useless, gutless, spineless excuse for a half-life. You’re pathetic. If you knew I was so ruthless why didn’t you get your act together and at least put the money into an interest account – is that really so hard? What’s the inflation rate? How much have I lost? Unless you’re too lazy to get off your backside and do the sums!”
Story taken from Matthew 25:14-27 in Rob Lacey’s The Word on the Street [previously sold as The Street Bible].
The story got me wondering; “Who and what am I investing in? Which person do I identify with in the story? Is my life making a difference?
I wonder what lessons you took from the story? Perhaps you’d like to share them in the comments below.
If you like the way the story is told you can find more written in the same style in Rob Lacey’s The Word on the Street.
