Aristotle and the Woodsmen - Honing Yourself For Life

Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, recorded a meaningful story that has been passed down through the ages with its powerful meaning for all of us.

Two woodsmen who had never met before, happened to be working near each other in the forest one day, but not close enough to see each other. However, they could hear the chopping and tree falling progress of each other. While they were both about the same age, one woodsman was much smaller in stature than the other one. Yet they both were very strong and muscular, a definite requirement for their trade.

As the sun was setting and the day’s work was nearing an end, the smaller woodsman approached the larger one, who was still working furiously to finish his quota for the day. “Why do you labor so?” …asked the smaller woodsman of the larger one. “Is your axe not sharp?” ….he added. The larger woodsman stopped cutting and replied… “With my great strength and skill, I need to sharpen my axe but once a day.” The smaller woodsman thought for a moment and then replied… “This may be so, but I take time to stop and sharpen my axe every hour. And even though it is obvious you have much more strength and cutting skills than I do, I have completed far more work today than you. Just think what you could do if you stopped and sharpened your axe more often, or even every hour.”

Mark Twain must have known this tale of Aristotle’s because he once told a story that had been told to him about the old man in the logging camp who could always outdo the work of younger, and stronger men. It went like this: “I once heard a story about a wise old woodsman from a logging camp who continually out did the work of men half his age and bigger than him. For many years, no one knew his secret. If you watched him work, he just kept cutting deep cuts into the trees. This wise woodsman preferred to work alone and for good reason. He had gathered a fine collection of saws and axes over the years and at night he would carefully sharpen each one. Then the next day, he kept them hidden near him dry and ready to go. And when he was sure no one was around or looking, he would switch to a newly sharpened saw or axe.”

Both stories are a great message for all of us that we can never expect to perform at our peak level, day after day, year after year, without honing our personal and business axes and saws on a regular basis. If we continue to keep cutting the wood of life, day after day, without sharpening our skills, someone else or some other company will out perform us. Continuous Improvement is the name of the game if we want to be a “cutting edge” in all we do. So my advice to you is… keep those saws and axes sharpened!!!