Once upon a time, a big manufacturing company had a problem with their machine. Their machine was huge and monstrous and it was quite a challenge to pin down exactly what the problem was. The machine simply stopped working, their internal engineers tried tirelessly, but hours rolled into days, and days headed for weeks. They decided to hire the services of a city renown expert engineer.
The engineer came to the site as soon as he was briefed. Like all engineers, the first thing to do for him was to diagnose before prescribing solutions. He had a word with the heads of operation of the company and they commissioned him to solve the problem. He strolled into the engine room, it was a really big room with lots of pipes, engines and cylinders. It was a big operation. The expert engineer strolled in, observing carefully as he walked along. A few engineers from the company closely behind him, trying to see for themselves where the problem was. The expert engineer, oozing the wisdom that comes from plenty of white hair strolled carefully around the entire room, touching, pausing, feeling and thinking. After walking around for about 30 mins. The engineer requested for a hammer from his tool box. He took out the hammer, and hit a particular spot on one of the cylindrical pipes. He asked them to switch on the engine, they did, she struck the place again, and as if by one stroke of magic, the engine’s responded, and began to work again. He asked them to switch off the engine, then turn it on again. The machine responded as if there had been no problem whatsoever, it worked smoothly.
All the engineers were surprised, but excited. Alas the machine was up again. News went fast to the operations manager and the CEO, the expert engineer was indeed an expert, as he had solved a very complex problem that had bedeviled the whole company and help them ransom for too long. Their excitement however faded when the expert engineer sent them his bill. He was demanding for a small sum of $10,000. The engineers could not believe their eyes, the operations manager was exasperated. He could not reconcile the bill, with the story he had heard of how the problem was solved. Not to appear rude by denying the expert of his charges, the operations manager requested that the expert engineer break down his bill, so that the company could understand what they were paying for.
The expert engineer wrote his bill promptly. $1 for tapping the pipe, $9,999 for knowing where to tap!
Value is not in the physical activity to the expert engineer, it’s in the knowledge that the expert has. Anybody can tap, but few people know where to tap, how to tap, when to tap and why tap. Knowledge is valuable! Small wonder the holy book has in one of it’s wise sayings, “wisdom is the principal thing, and with all you get, get understanding”, in fact there is a version that says about knowledge, that even if it costs all you have, or all that you’ll ever have, go for it! Wisdom is the right application of knowledge, wisdom is the tapping and the knowing put together.
Interestingly, we are in an age driven by information. The leader is not the strongest physically as it was when the biggest economic activity was war, it’s not the man with the biggest farm, as it was during the agrarian age, neither is in in the complexity of structures as it was with the technology driven age, today we are in a time where the most informed, or those who can control what we see, hear or think, literally control us. We are in an age where we are overloaded with commercials on all sides. Everybody wants to get their information into our thinking, everybody wants a little space on the hard disc of our mind. The world is shrinking so fast, that what used to be called global news, now seems very local. In this age and time, you cannot afford not to be informed. You cannot afford to spend your life tapping around in aimless trial and error when the pool of knowledge lies a few meters from where you are.
The reason why the axe is not cutting well, is because the cutting edge needs to be sharpened. The reason why we exert ourselves is because we are operating contrary to wisdom. If you know how the machine works, you’ll know where to tap. My motivation today is simple, get knowledgeable! How, you may ask? I have a few suggestions for you, and I have a little gift I’ll like to give you, and I’ll like you to share with others as well.
1. Become an expert in one topic, but become generally knowledgeable. Don’t pursue focus till it creates absolute blind spots for you in areas that are important. Deliberately chose to be broad. Read wide! Read many more books about one topic, but read books about other topics. Yes you will be invited to speak about your topic, but the discussions you will engage in will require you to be well rounded.
2. Ask the experts! One meeting with a wise man is worth years of reading. Don’t miss the opportunity to ask questions from someone who has demonstrated expertise in particular areas you are seeking knowledge on. You were not the first to land on this planet, learn from others.
3. Share what you know! There is nothing that helps you retain what you know more than sharing it. It looks very interesting when we see small children trying hard to use words we just taught them. I remember how frequently my daughter used the words participate and interesting until they became her’s. Don’t bottle up the knowledge to yourself, share. One of the things you can share is what you have just learnt, you can also share where you are learning it. Share this website for example, and share this report as well.
4. Google it! Whatever you hear and you don’t understand, just go online and search for it. There is too much knowledge wasting on the internet begging to be found. It’s so interesting how difficult it is to argue these days, if you disagree, just go online and settle it once an for all J. Take the pains of searching of linking from page to page and getting a wide grasp of new things.
I’m sure you noticed I took a long break, I’ve been working on a number of things and been busy as usual. I’ll try not to let this type of break happen again. As a gift from my break however, I’ll like you to take this little gift of mine and share it with your friends and loved ones. Just ask them to fill their details and download a report I put together for them for free. You can also share the link on your facebook, you can use this to share it on facebook. Success is replicable, just know where to tap! As always, I wish you all the best. Happy Easter!
34 thoughts on “Knowing Where to Tap”
great stuff, chairman.i’m sure a lot of people will find this useful.I’d also like to suggest that sometimes the dictionary could be very useful.Everyone needs a good dictionary in their library.Thankfully, you can install e-ditionaries and upload ebooks on your phones and other portable devices these days.
Google It!
It almost sounds absurd but it is the basis of whatever modern wisdom we can claim to have.
Google It!
Tap into the wisdom of a million others.
Its the best way to learn about anything.
But what of some subjects that are not Google as I recently found out?
Simple.
Add it to Wiki. Do your research. Become an expert. Then share your knowledge. Let others know what you know too!
Don’t mind me, I’m on a roll this morning.
Great stuff as usual, Deolu.
great piece. really inspiring
Buring like fire within my bones!
Someone once said that “a wise man is somebody who knows something about everything and everything about something”. Have you considered the apostle Paul? He seems to know something about everything-poetary, military, marriage and family life, agriculture, buidling and architecture, biology, geography etc- and everything about something-the gospel of Christ, no wonder he could preach to just about anybody.
Luv u!
I like the word tap…..even though it’s used as a verb in this post, that is to lightly hit something, it could also be a noun that indicates a device through which liquid flows. (considering the fact that having cash is referred to as being liquid).
I just must know where to tap, when to tap, who to tap, who to tap from, how to tap and even own many taps…..LOL
great piece CM
Great piece CM.The day a man stop learning, he is a dead meat.
I love this. Great piece. God bless you brother.
sir u are very correct.it takes knowledge to overcome. it is not in siza at all. it is wisdom that differentaites all.i invest so much in building me because if you dont want to be outdated, you have to update yourself daily. there is no substitute for knowledge at all.God bless naija
Only the people with ears will get it all. Thanks for given yourself for others
Wonderful!
I heard the story last week and was just contemplating on blogging it. I have the bones but not the flesh. I was about writing something about it on my blog but thank God i always come here first. I guess i am permitted to post this on my blog and copy it rightly (copy-right..lol)
Thanks for the information on knowing where to tap.
Love u lots!
Happy Easter
Great piece Deolu.
I do enjoy this great piece. Its of no use wondering about when you dont know where you are going. Its just like tapping. I have had a similar experience the engineer had with an uncle. We travelled for a wedding and the bus just developed a problem. About 5 mechanics worked on it but it was to no avail. An uncle came, walked around the bus, looked into the engine and used a hammer to hit certain part of the bus. All of a sudden the bus came to life. Its not just about tapping, its knowing where to tap. Life gives us so many places to tap, we need to be adequately informed to know where n how to tap so that our journey would not be like that of the Isrealites. Great Piece, Chairman
Deolu, that’s wonderful. The verb “tap” explains in details what exactly i need in networking into tasks that will definitely be of benefit to my career and human resource skills. Keep up the good work.
its a lovley piece, well put together and quite inspiring. learnt about locating the right point on which to tap. guess i have been tapping on too many spots and need to locate the right spot in people, at every location, in all situations. God bless you for this.
Great piece,great lessons!
Concerning your break,sir,I understand there needs to be some time to retreat and re-strategise, “The successful always has a number of projects planned, to which he looks forward. Any one of them could change the course of his life overnight.”
— Mark Caine: Non-fiction author
God help you,sir!
Thank you Dee’!
This is simply, phenomenal….!
Bros,you always said it all and leave us with little to add to it.
Many of us always venture into different spots at a time making us Jack of all trade but…………
Though we all know that it’s not easy to choose an area of specialisation but we need to look within ourself to know an area where we are most vibrat,and try to become an expert in your own specification.
Just like in my own case,i create my own business blog (http://GoldTutorNg.com) sometimes last year and i had been able to know to be a gold expert.Initially,its wasn’t that easy to create a particular niche for my blog but now,i have been able to identify the right place to tap into
Great piece here chairman. This makes even more sense to me today than it did when I read it first on Monday. One just got to know where to tap and when to tap. That knowledge is very critical! It is very important to know be an expert in something, and very important to know something about everything. One of my daily goals is to learn something new daily. I can’t even sleep soundly until I have! Thanks again for sharing.
God’s word, the bible tells us that in these days knowledge will increase and implies that this will cause speed to increase too. We live at a time when there’s so much information just underneath our noses, yet many of us still suffer because of our ignorance. May our eyes be opened to truly see.
One of the things that stood the wisest man who ever lived out was his largeness of heart. “God gave Solomon wisdom—the deepest of understanding and the largest of hearts…He knew all about plants, from the huge cedar that grows in Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows in the cracks of a wall. He understood everything about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. People came from far and near to listen to the wisdom of Solomon sent by kings from all over the earth who had heard of his reputation.”
Its amazing what you’ll discover you know when you begin to share your knowledge with others. Now is the time for Josephs to rise up and show the world the way out of the economic crisis.
baba dee, thanks for the document. u know i’ve seen this story before in another version, anyway, i think it’s a great storyline. i’ve always believed in developing expertise in that your field of endeavor. that’s the only way to stand out especially in today’s world. hope this will gear us up to a whole perspective. thanks
also on this topic, knowing where to tap in a problem is also a function of the depth of knowledge u have on the issue at hand, the experience garnered over the times, ur interactions with people and of course, patience.
Great stuff, really ready to digest the book.
deolu,u are right know wonder they say knowledge is power
You dont know how much i tap knowledge from you..even when we have read a story before..you give it a whole new meaning when you write ! Kudos!..For me, i am a voracious reader and Google/Wiki for me is the best thing that has happened to my reading especially when i am writing articles or researching..I have found it so useful..that i literarily spend hours on end reading online!..Recently read a book on Theodore Roosevelt, a Past President of America..How he reads an average of a book every night before going to bed and was known to have averaged an amazing 500 books in a year! Wow!..A president still finding time to read daily..some of us find it hard to read….even with no one to bother us as per spouse and children..! Pls lets cultivate the habit of reading, as it pays great dividend! I subscribe to the message here and i approve it too ! lol ! Thanks so much !
When the axe is dull, more energy is needed. wisdom is profitable to give direction. Wisdom is the direct application of knowledge. You have just sharpened my axe. Thanks
u can’t just throw away experience in knowing where to tap. notice that the guy first did what i call a diagnosis. except “something” tells u, then go get experience
the only difference between the rich and the poor is acces to information. a man once said that if you want to hide anything from an African man, put it inside a book. this has been proven to be true over the years as you raely see youths read. infact it would interest you know that today we carry the books yet we do not read them. I encourage people to read as if their life depended on it; though it is not very easy but it pays to be informed than to be deformed.
i told a group of friends that we in a knowledge driven ecconomy and the slightest opportunity any knowledgeable person has, he makes the best use of it.
people are making waves today as a result of what they know and nothing changes that.
something keeps baffling me whenevr i think about it; and it is that people die and nobody can use their certificates and other credentials no matter how colourful their lives has been. something tells me you have to work for you own because you can only use it while it last.
knowing where to tap extends to the issue of knowong the right places to be at all times.
A wise man is one who knows everything about something and something about everything.
the measure of wisdom is in the application of appropraite and best knowledge.
we all want to tap but have you discovered “where” its a process, its not automatic.
Very inspiring!
when a man is in the right place, the lines falls in pleasant places, he is connected to quarters that matters and he does not beat around the bush; he hits the nail at the head. focus keeps you ahead of others
when a man is in the right place, the lines falls in pleasant places, he is connected to quarters that matters and he does not beat around the bush; he hits the nail at the head. focus keeps you ahead of others
Great Piece Simple logic…. Thanks for sharing with us God Bless U Richly