Before believing a statement fideistically, as if it were a religious dogma, it is necessary to verify its veracity with figures and graphs, which are of much greater value than words, which probably only serve for propaganda or to hide something that must not be revealed.
Lions and Gazelles. An episode happened more than 20 years ago
Lions and Gazelles. There is really nothing that can teach life more than life itself…
There is really nothing that can teach life more than life itself.
I remember an episode that happened more than 20 years ago.
One day in a SIM I had the opportunity to talk to the manager of a very important company in the Milanese hinterland.
At one point he confessed to me that “his” company would go bankrupt in a few days.
My reaction was immediate : I asked him if he was worried.
With absolute calmness, he answered no, surprising me with his words.
Seeing my doubts, he added that he knew very well that the company would soon go bankrupt, and for this reason he had literally “emptied” the company by transferring the proceeds to a foreign account.
And he added, with ill-concealed satisfaction, that it was the “deal of a lifetime”.
I was stunned.
At that time I was still very naive and thought that in order to do “business” it was necessary to make a company “work” and not drive it into bankruptcy.
The manager did not flinch at all, on the contrary.
He explained to me, enlightening me, that the interests of those who manage a company are completely opposite to those of those who own it (the shareholders) : if a manager really wants to get rich, he cannot be satisfied with a “miserable salary” as a manager.
He has to aim higher and higher, trying to get everything, really everything, by fleecing the company to the bone by driving it into the ground, and in return getting an avalanche of cash that is later deposited in an offshore account.
When I asked him how he managed to cheat the partners without them realizing what he was up to, he replied this way :
“With graphs and balance sheets I explained in my own words, leaving out important details and counting on the fact that no one would feel like or be able to do an audit afterwards.
People are predictable, so it is easy to fool them”.
His whole speech reminded me of lions biting gazelles.
Gazelles are predictable.
Lions know their every move, where they go to graze, drink, and breed.
Gazelles, on the other hand, do not know anything about lions.
For the first time, I began to wonder if I was a gazelle myself : no matter how cunning I might be, sooner or later I would run the risk of being bitten by a lion much smarter and faster than me.
Unless I had learned their hunting techniques.
This would never have allowed me to become a full-fledged lioness : to know how to maul, one must have claws and fangs, qualities I certainly did not possess then (and still do not).
But at least I could have defended myself better, made myself less predictable, and stopped grazing in places where other gazelles usually go.
