Knowing Where to Tap

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!