One day, a farmer notices that his goose has laid a golden egg. The next day, she lays another one. He gets so excited that he cuts her open to get all the eggs at once. There’s nothing inside. Now he has a dead goose.
Production capacity
Sometimes, we get so focused on production (golden eggs) that we forget about our production capacity (the goose).
For instance, we might choose to prioritize professional achievement over health and happiness… even though this can kill the goose (well being) that lays the golden eggs (success).
Or a restaurant might try to increase revenue by turning their tables twice as fast… even though this can kill the goose (customer relationships) that lays the golden eggs (patronage and profit).
So how can we refocus on production capacity?
Sharpening the saw
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says the answer is to “sharpen the saw.” This means taking time away from production to refocus on production capacity.
For individuals, sharpening the saw can include:
Learning and training
Taking vacations
Building relationships
For teams or companies, sharpening the saw can include:
Assessing successes and failures
Researching customers
Building better systems
Personally, I’ve found that my most valuable saw-sharpening activities are reading and exercising. Although I can forgo them for a day, week, or even a month, eventually it’ll slow down my production capacity.
So, what’s your golden egg and what’s your goose? How can you better take care of that precious goose?
Goose icon by Claire Jones
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Action items:
〉 Define your “golden egg” and your “goose.”
〉 Identify what your “goose” needs to thrive. In other words, what feeds your production capacity?
〉 Create a plan for maintaining and improving your production capacity.