ON THE JOB TRAINING
A Teaching Story
Retold by
VIKRAM KARVE
There are many types and styles of Training but nothing beats ON THE JOB TRAINING (OJT) – here is a famous teaching story that illustrates this:
Noticing that his father was growing old, the son of a burglar asked his father to teach him the tradecraft so that he could carry on the family business after his father had retired.
The father agreed and that night they broke into a house together.
Opening a large cupboard the father told his son to go in and pick out the clothing and jewellery.
As soon as the boy was inside, the father locked the cupboard.
After locking his son in the cupboard, the old burglar made a lot of noise so that the whole house was aroused and then he slipped quietly away into the darkness.
Locked inside the cupboard the boy was angry, terrified, and puzzled as to how he was going to get out.
Then an idea flashed in his brain – he started making a noise like a cat, “Meow…Meow…Meow…!”
The family told a maid to take a candle and examine the cupboard.
When the door was unlocked and opened the boy jumped out, blew the candle, pushed his way past the astonished maid, and ran out.
The people ran after him and chased him in the street.
Noticing a well by the side of the road the boy threw in a large stone into the well and quickly hid in the darkness.
The pursuers gathered around the well trying to see the burglar drowning himself. After some time they thought that the boy had drowned and then they dispersed and went away.
When the boy got home he was livid and infuriated at his father and angrily he started to tell his father the story of how he had managed to escape; but the father cut him short and abruptly said: “Don't bother to tell me the details. You have escaped and come back here – that is proof enough of your capability and bears testimony to the fact that you have learned the art and craft of burglary and are ready for the job…”
So, Dear Reader, sometimes it may be prudent to avoid a formal training programme and resort to On the Job Training Technique which is breathtaking in its simplicity: “Entrust a man with responsibility and then tell him to get on with the job!”
In many situations OJT works beautifully – you can take my word for it…!
VIKRAM KARVE
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