Are You Listening?
By Dr. Kyle Christensen
Back
when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance
communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator.
When he came for the interview, he noticed that the office was filled
with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the
background. The receptionist instructed him and all the other
applicants, to wait until they were called to enter the inner office.
After a
few minutes, the young man stood up and walked right into the office.
The other applicants were confused as they didn't hear anybody being
called. They assumed the young man went in by mistake and that he would
be disqualified.
Within a
few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the
office and said to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much
for coming, but the job has just been filled."
The
other applicants grumbled, and one spoke up saying, "Wait a minute, I
don't understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a
chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair!"
The
employer said, "I'm sorry, but the last several minutes while you've
been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following
message in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right
in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young
man did. The job is his."
When I
read this story, the one thing that really struck me was how the other
applicants missed their one chance to get the job just because they
weren't paying careful attention. They could have been sitting there
thinking about the interview questions, wondering how they're gonna
impress the interviewer and how to position themselves above the other
applicants. Some of them may have been mustering all the wits they could
summon, concerned about how to make an excellent first impression. They
were too ready, they were too focused. Unfortunately, they forgot to
listen.
-Source Unknown
So,
Are you listening? What do you hear? Chaos and confusion and the
busyness of the day or have you been able to filter out the trivial and
unimportant and glean what is going on?
Just saying.
Blessings,
Dr. Kyle Christensen
September 23, 2013
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