All about parachutes

This is an old and funny story I have stored in my files that is worth “looking” at from time to time.

Suppose you happen to be one of two people on a malfunctioning airplane with only one parachute. How would you react? Guess what! Everything depends on how you look at things. If you are a:

Pessimist: you refuse the parachute because you might die on the jump anyway.

Optimist: you refuse the parachute because people have survived crashes just like this before.

Procrastinator: you play a game of Monopoly for the parachute.

Bureaucrat: you order them to conduct a feasibility study on parachute use in multi-engine aircraft under code red conditions.

Lawyer: you charge one parachute for helping them sue the airline.

Doctor: you tell them you need to run more tests, then take the parachute in order to make your next appointment.

Sales executive: you sell them the parachute at top retail rates and get the names of their friends and relatives who might like one too.

Bureau of Internal Revenue: you confiscate the parachute along with their luggage, wallet, and gold fillings.

Engineer: you make them another parachute out of aisle curtains and dental floss.

Scientist: you give them the parachute and ask them to send you a report on how well it worked.

Mathematician: you refuse to accept the parachute without proof that it will work in all cases.

Philosopher: you ask how they know the parachute actually exists.

English major: you explicate simile and metaphor in the parachute instructions.

Computer Science: you design a machine capable of operating a parachute as well as a human being could.

Economics: you plot a demand curve by asking them, at regular intervals, how much they would pay for a parachute.

Psychoanalysis: you ask them what the shape of a parachute reminds them of.

Drama: you tie them down so they can watch you develop the character of a person stuck on a falling plane without a parachute.

Art: you hang the parachute on the wall and sign it.

Environmentalist: you refuse to use the parachute unless it is biodegradable.

Sports Fan: you start betting on how long it will take to crash.

Auto mechanic: as long as you are looking at the plane engine, it works fine.

Surgeon General: you issue a warning that skydiving can be hazardous to your health.

Association of Tobacco Growers: you explain very patiently that despite a number of remarkable coincidences, studies have shown that jumping out of a plane is NOT harmful to your health.

This article comes from the Groaners list website and it sure tells us how we tend to look at situation not according to what they are, but according to who we are.

Leaders communicate with their people all the time. Sometimes they wonder why they were all in “agreement” during the meeting, yet when their people get out of the meetings they do different things and they think differently. Here is the reason why.

It is important to know that we are all people with biases. Our views and opinions, responses and reactions are usually colored with our own convictions, prejudices, environment, education and beliefs.

Effective communications can be achieved if leaders would only take a little bit more effort in presenting the message clearly and concisely and then have the listener(s) repeat what was said so that there is certainty that both parties are on the same page. Taking down notes and keeping a minute of the conversation would ensure that there is clarity in the discussion. Having them sign on the minutes would be a good thing to do as well, if the occasion allows.

We all see things differently and this is why the next time we feel the urge to form judgments on certain people, it would be good to first look intently at the mirror and figure out why we’re seeing things the way we see it. Then pray that God gives us the discernment and wisdom needed to study a particular situation and act according to what is true, right and fair. Divine intervention is highly commendable in this situation. And then of course, this is because He “sees” everything doesn’t He?

(Mark your calendar, as Francis Kong runs his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership seminar-workshop on Jan. 16-17, 2018 at SEDA Hotel, BGC. For registration and inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)