Season Of The Grasshopper
One of Confucius’ students was arguing with a stranger.
“There are 4 seasons in a year.” said Confucius’ student.
“No, there are 3 seasons in a year.” the stranger argued.
“I’m very sure you are wrong.” said Confucius’ student proudly.
“I’m sure you’re wrong too.” insisted the stranger with equal pride. “Why not ask your teacher to decide who is right?”
“Great.” said the student confidently. “Whoever is wrong must kowtow to the winner.”
The stranger agreed. Just then, Confucius appeared. The student eagerly went up and asked his master to tell the stranger how many seasons there are in a year.
“3 seasons.” said Confucius.
The student was shocked. The stranger laughed as the student kowtowed to him.
After the stranger left, the bewildered student pressed his teacher for an explanation.
“Do you realise that you were arguing with a grasshopper?” asked Confucius. Grasshoppers don’t live past autumn. It would be impossible for us to convince them that there are 4 seasons in a year. Why waste your energy arguing with such people?”
The world is full of grasshoppers. Every day, salespeople smile and declare that there are 3 seasons in a year in order to close deals with grasshoppers. Those working under grasshoppers not only have to say there are 3 seasons in a year, they may even have to hop around and wear green. Not being able to do that, I not only went into private practice, I wasted no time in starting my own practice. This is the courage that people who call others grasshoppers should have. If you think your boss is a grasshopper who is not treating you fairly, go ahead, set up your own business. I believe many people have done that, only to to find out that the grasshopper is the one in the mirror.
How do I explain to the de facto grasshopper CFO that I need to install fibre optic handpieces to do my molar endodontics properly? How do I explain that I need an OPG xray machine to do my implants properly and to impress patients enough to let me do their implants? How do I explain that sitting $60,000 in an outmoded practice is myopic?
Grasshoppers can also appear in the form of kids (real kids or kids in adult bodies), spouses or even parents. This is where it gets tricky. Unlike customers and superiors whom you only deal with only once or just once in a while, the grasshoppers that you live with are not so easy to deal with. Agreeing with their 3-season theory can be tiring and nerve-wrecking.
Imagine you’re flying a plane and someone who hasn’t had her hands on her controls before throwing tantrums when you don’t swing the controls her way. How does one handle such grasshoppers? No use turning to Confucius. The great sage has warned against such difficulties more than 2,000 years ago.
