Discover the Hidden Lesson in "The Fox and the Rabbit" Story: Does Your Boss's Opinion Matter More Than Your Performance?

THE FOX AND THE RABBIT

It's a fine sunny day in the forest, and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk.

Fox: "What are you working on?"

Rabbit: "My thesis."

Fox: "Hmm... What is it about?"

Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes."

Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes!"

Rabbit: "Come with me and I'll show you!"

They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After a few minutes, gnawing on a fox bone, the rabbit returns to his typewriter and resumes typing.

Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit....

Wolf: "What's that you are writing?"

Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."

Wolf: "You don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?"

Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?"

The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow, and again the rabbit returns by himself after a few minutes and goes back to typing.

Finally, a bear comes along and asks, "What are you doing?

Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat bears."

Bear: "Well, that's absurd!"

Rabbit: "Come into my home and I'll show you."

As they enter the burrow, the rabbit introduces the bear to the lion.

Moral

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SILLY YOUR THESIS TOPIC IS. WHAT MATTERS IS WHO YOU HAVE FOR A SUPERVISOR.

In the context of the working world:

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BAD YOUR PERFORMANCE IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER YOUR BOSS LIKES YOU.

I am not so worried about the "supervisor" but about the rabbit - the employee... Is that all that he wants to do? Thinks he is worth for? Choice is always yours...

Hello All,

Please see the attached presentation file for the same topic shared in the email. The only difference is that it's a ready presentation.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Anal Shah

Hi Kiran,

In the long term, it won't work; short-term gains will be there. It will be like the story of the crane who closed his eyes assuming that no one can see him but...

In the corporate world, we see many examples of rabbits and lions, gurus and chelas, but I don't think anyone would like to be a rabbit.

Bibhutosh Bhadauria

Hi Bibhutosh Bhadauria,

Just now, I saw your presentation, and it is very explanatory, conveying the right message. One thing I learned is that the same concept can have two different impressions based on how it is presented and explained. The meaning of words can change; you and Kiran said the same thing, but the approach was different. I appreciate your contribution as it provides a clear picture, and I agree with you in this regard.

Thanks for sharing this excellent presentation. Your story conveys a valuable moral - that it is the team that makes a leader successful through joint effort and the skill of the boss in managing the team and assigning the right job to the right person.

Best regards

Hi,

The moral of the story is a little different; it is a good example of how a subordinate can use his superiors for his success. Watch out for the ego.

S.K. Sundararajan

Dear Simta, Divya, Bibhutosh, and Shahanal,

This was just a story to show one aspect of the corporate world. There are two messages which can be conveyed: one, as clearly explained by Shahanal in the presentation, is the positive moral about teamwork. I have already explained this in one of my posts in the Day Life section as a story of The LION and the FOX, highlighting a positive aspect.

The second aspect is ironically explained in the story that I presented, THE RABBIT AND THE FOX. This has nothing to do with long term or short term but is an overview of the brutal truth that we come across many times in typical situations in the corporate world, hence just an ironical situation. These are two sides of the same coin.

KIRAN ARORA

Many a time I think about how newcomers get so attached to their bosses without doing anything. I will not try this and am proud to say that I am a lion.

Regards

One cannot make a generalization. Sometimes bosses are super efficient as well.

Another interpretation could be "A fool can always get a bigger fool to admire him."

I am also in the position of an assistant manager in a company, and I do not have a manager, only a VP. Despite this, I still think the same way, as this usually happens. Usually, top managers prefer these types of individuals.