People need mutual respect and understanding. If this kind of respect is lacking in our lives, it will be very easy to have big problems. For example, if you come to an unfamiliar place and want to ask someone for directions, you see an old man by the roadside. You walk up and ask: "Hey old man, how do I get to a certain place?" The result of asking for directions like this is that nine times out of ten you won't get a clear answer, and even if you do, you might end up walking a lot of unnecessary detours. In the workplace, companies should respect their employees even more. If a company does not respect its employees, within the specified working hours, employees may still work seriously, but once they finish work, they will leave without any concern for the company's affairs. For employees, things required by the company must be done, but things beyond that are not worth worrying about. Over time, employees will develop estrangement towards the company.
There was such a story in the past that well explained this issue. A long time ago, there was a very lazy person in the Song Dynasty who did nothing all day and dreamed of one day becoming rich and living like an emperor. But without putting in the effort, how could that dream come true? So he remained extremely poor and often envied those who owned cormorants. He thought, "If I could have a group of cormorants, they would catch a lot of fish for me every day. I could just sell the fish at the market, and then my path to wealth would be easier." However, cormorants at the market were very expensive. After counting all his savings, he didn't even have enough money to buy one cormorant, so he returned home from the market disappointed. At home, the lazy person lay on his bed pondering, "How can I find animals like cormorants?" Suddenly, he remembered that there were many monkeys in the mountains. Why not catch some monkeys, train them to pick fruits for me on the mountain? With this idea in mind, the lazy person immediately went up the mountain and, after great effort, finally caught many monkeys. Now he could implement his plan.
The lazy person brought the monkeys back and locked them in a completely sealed room where there were many bamboo baskets. He didn’t give food to the monkeys. After starving for several days, the monkeys became obedient. Then, the lazy person used food to train the monkeys to carry baskets. Whoever couldn't carry the basket properly wouldn't get food. Soon, the monkeys learned to carry baskets. Next, the lazy person bought a lot of fruits and trained the monkeys to put the fruits into the baskets. If a monkey accidentally damaged or bit the fruit, it would receive a severe beating. After months of training, the monkeys could put the fruits into the baskets without damaging them.
At this point, the lazy person thought, "The timing is right." He released the monkeys into the mountains to pick fruits for him. Every day, the monkeys would bring the picked fruits intact to the lazy person’s house. All the lazy person had to do was take the fruits to the market to sell. But he only gave each monkey one fruit, which was far from enough for them to eat. Finally, one day on the mountain, the monkeys, unable to endure the hunger, ate the fruits they had picked themselves. Surprisingly, they didn't receive any lashes from the lazy person. At this moment, they suddenly realized that the mountain wasn't the lazy person's, nor were the fruits. Why couldn't they pick and eat the fruits themselves? Therefore, later, the monkeys never returned to the lazy person's house.
Article reprinted from: http://www.blwh.cn/rz_more.asp?id=297