An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”
“Millions – then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
I never heard of a per diem before coming to Benin. In short time I learned that if you want to organize a training or hold a meeting with adults, you were expected to dish out per diems (normally $2 to $10 per person/day). People typically expect that their is some behind-the-scenes budget that had a line for these per diems. In their defense, this is often the case. In my case though, almost never. Just me trying to exchange and share some knowledge. Not respecting the per diem expectation can create suspicious feelings. People attending the training/meeting may think you stole all their per diem or that the training isn’t “serious”. With government workers and the NGO types, people may be offended or mad because they consider per diems legitimate allowances. You on the other hand suspect that everyone came just to pocket the per diem and they could care less what you’re talking about.
It’s interesting to see other people reflecting on ways to stop paying per diem, particularly now that I’m on the other side and get giant per diem when I travel. Perhaps US government employees should take the lead and stop paying themselves per diem?
- Dan Carlin – Death Throes of the Republic Series
- Chris Sacca on Shark Tank, Building Your Business, and Startup Mistakes
I liked his thoughts on myopia and empathy at around 30 min - Jay Larson – Wrong Number
- Intelligence Squared – The US should let in 100,000 Syrian Refugees
Links I liked:
- What if the government simply paid everyone enough so that no one was poor?
- The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems
