Once upon a time, a disciple asked a monk, “How can
success be guaranteed?”
The monk gave a cotton cloth to his disciple and asked to
bring some water in it. Holding together the four ends of the
cloth, the disciple dipped the cloth in the water. When he
took out the cloth, the water leaked from the cloth and it
could not be filled. He tried again and again but failed.
The disciple went back and told the monk that the warp
and weft of the cloth had spaces in between, from where the
water leaked and thus, no water could be collected in the
The monk told the student to go on trying. The disciple
went on dipping the cloth in the water, but each time the
cloth failed to hold water. After attempting several times, he
stopped trying and went back with a dejected face. The
monk sent him again to try few more times. The disciple
went back and tried to collect water in the cloth, but no
water could be retained. However, obeying the monk, the
disciple went on trying.
Since the disciple was making the cloth wet with water
numerous times, the cotton threads of the cloth started to
expand. This progressive expansion of the threads, made the
distances between the warp and weft of the threads,
progressively smaller and smaller. Ultimately, the threads
expanded so much that no distance remained, as the warp
and weft of the threads touched each other completely.
The disciple was now able to hold the water in the cloth.
Holding together the four ends of the cloth, he filled the
cloth with water and joyfully came back to the monk.
Then the monk told the disciple, “This is how success is
Excerpt from the book “Once Upon A Time: 100 Management Stories” by Rajen Jani