Pg 070: Wooden ship builder
Education
The story is told of the old wooden ship-builder who had always kept the work within the family. But his orders were getting larger, so he hired a new man.
The rule for his wooden boats was that if you drove a peg into the boat sides and your hammer head left a puck mark in the wood, you had to initial the mistake.
The sons of the old-timer had a problem with this hired hand, even though he was a superb worker. They just didn’t think it was right to have an outsider. So, they conspired to make him look bad and get him fired.
When the old-timer went down to Boston to pick up an engine, the sons decided to make excessive puck marks in the boat and put the new man’s initials next to the mistakes.
When the father returned and inspected the work, he called a meeting and gave the new man a raise. “A raise!!!” his sons protested. “Yes, boys. Anybody who can drive that many pegs deserves a raise!”