knowing where to tap

A ship's engine fails. The owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure how to fix the engine.

Then they brought an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, owners received a bill from the old man for USD10,000.

"What?!" the owners expclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

• Tapping with hammer, $ 2.00
• Knowing where to tap, $ 9,998.00

Lesson behind the text: "Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort is what makes the difference in our work."

— adapted from TSM Newsmagazine, June 2011 issue

Posted in: key to sanity,self-proclaimed book slave,workopolis