The Golden Goose Principle
This morning I whipped out my Stephen R. Covey Personal Workbook. The subject as developed around principles. The page made reference to the golden goose and the golden egg. The story goes:
The Hen and the Golden Eggs
“A COTTAGER and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day. They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold they killed it. Having done so, they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day by day.”
Immediately after reading this, I recalled a “Better Call Saul” episode. The episode, Piñata, depicts a moment where the Aesop fable is in full effect. Jimmy is mugged by teenagers in his neighborhood. Jimmy proposes to these young men a business plan. Jimmy will give these delinquents slice of his profits every time he passes through the neighborhood. In this proposal, Jimmy is able to continue his business. Here is the episode scene discussed above:
Excerpt From Better Call Saul Pinata (Source) https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?t=34680
JIMMY: I come in peace.
I’m just just here to make a deal.
What kind of deal?
Look, fellas, we we got off on the wrong foot, okay?
I’m sure you saw me out here selling my wares, and you thought I was just some rube, out looking to score a quick buck and just begging to be rolled.
But, guys, I’m thinking long term.
I see a real need in this community for safe, affordable, untraceable phones, and I’m ready to fill it.
[SCOFFS]
Wah-wah-wah.
All right.
All right, straight talk.
[SIGHS]
I need to be able to sell my phones without worrying about getting ripped off.
I’m proposing if you let me sell my phones without hassle, I cut you in, say, 100 bucks every night that I’m out.
And that’s money for literally doing nothing.
[SIGHS]
Why wouldn’t we just take all of it?
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
‘Cause I’m talking consistent, reliable profits, you know?
Sure, you can rip me off again, take all that I’ve got, but then I stop selling, and you lose a valuable revenue stream.
[SIGHS]
Give me all you got now.
I’m trying to make money for all of us here.
Just work with me.
Give.
If you could just expand your thinking a little bit.
- [SWITCHBLADE CLICKS]
- You talk too much.
Since these teenagers take Jimmy for all he’s got, they effectively “killed the goose/hen”. Now, thankfully Jimmy had a plan b and took care of these children. Regardless, we can see this fable holding itself in this show. These teenagers obviously didn’t read the Aesop fable in regard to the golden egg principle.
Applied To Personal Life
We are able to use this principle towards every action we take throughout the day. Be on the lookout for your golden eggs and what produces them. For me, it’s running. I could stop running (kill the hen/goose), but then in effect, I would lose the health benefits of running (the golden eggs).
More Examples
1. Eating Salad = Health Benefits
2. Reading Books = Gained Knowledge
3. Family Time = Connection
4. Oil Change = Well Running Vehicle
5. Sleep = Energy
Covey describes this as production and production capability. I would go further and say that these are our causes and effects. Hen/Goose is the cause, and the golden egg is the effect. If we break or abolish our positive causes, we will loose the positive effects.
In addition, if we destroy our negative causes, we gain positive effects. We really must recognize these causes to do so, which sometimes can be the hard part.
Remember, there are only two mistakes one can make on the path to wisdom. Not starting and not going all the way.
Best,
Aidan Hellrigel
