Anecdotes That Resonate: The Man Who Thought He Was A Rat

Once upon a time there lived a young man named Richard, who through sheer hard work gained admission to a leading management institute in North America.  He topped his class and was hired by a large global technology firm. 

Richard’s career moved on an accelerated track and with success came the usual trappings, a large house with a pool and expensive cars in the driveway. And every six months, Richard and his family would holiday at some exotic location. 

Within the next ten years Richard was promoted as the youngest Vice President in the company and made in-charge of operations in two geographies. And now that he spent more time visiting various locations, he had less time for his family and friends. The various get-togethers with friends and holidays abroad with family soon turned into distant memories.

His wife and his friends now taunted him as having become a victim of the rat race and Richard could also sense that his wife and he were slowly drifting apart.  Very soon he started having nightmares in which his wife and the kids were seen leaving him. Matters got so bad, that in his mind, he started believing that he was actually a rat. 

Richard’s boss noticed that he appeared stressed and unless something was quickly done, he would lose his star performer. In a frank chat with Richard, he learnt of his nightmares and his loss of confidence.

The boss arranged for Richard to see one of the country’s best (and most expensive) clinical psychologists, who recommended that he spend a week at his clinic. 

Over the next many regular sessions of psychoanalysis, the doctor probed deep to understand the interactions between his patient’s conscious and unconsciousness minds and to find a clue to the nightmares. Slowly but surely over the next seven days, Richard showed remarkable progress. 

A delighted doctor called up Richards boss and gave him the good news. The doctor then shook Richards hands and showed him to the door of his clinic that opened directly onto a busy street.

Ten minutes later as the doctor settled down to talk with his next patient, his doorbell chimed. It was Richard. A very concerned doctor walked to the door and asked,

“I hope all is well Richard?”

“Yes doctor. I am perfectly fine but there is a small problem,” said Richard. He then turned around, and pointed across the street,  “ There is a cat over there doctor and he is looking at me.”

“ I am sure that should not bother you Richard. You and I know very well that you are not a rat anymore,” said the doctor patting Richard’s shoulders.

“ Of course you and I know surely know that doctor. But then does that cat know it?” asked a visibly worried Richard.

Moral of the story:

At work our subordinates often make sincere efforts to develop and grow internally and to evolve but we rarely acknowledge that change.

In life too, while dealing with our friends and other relationships, we often interact with each other as we experienced each other initially. We fail to acknowledge that we all have changed for the better and grown over the years. 

This story should hopefully help shed those pre-conceived notions.