Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Two Kinds of Workers
January 17, 2006
Based on an previous minute by George Denise
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

A few years ago, I was looking for someone to maintain the landscape around the office building where I worked. I asked someone else in the area who they use and they gave me a name. I said "How do you like him?". He said, "He's good. He's reliable. Very friendly. Comes every two weeks, cuts the grass. He'll fertilize the lawn or trim the bushes whenever I ask." To get a second opinion, I asked another friend of mine who he uses. He gave me another name. I said "How do you like him?". He said, "I don't know, the lawn looks good doesn't it?" In fact, the lawn around his building looked fantastic, much better than the lawn of the first place I asked. I thought "I don't want someone to just cut the grass, I need the whole package." So I hired the second guy. I haven't talked to him since but my landscaping looks great. He does whatever it takes... adds fertilizer when it needs it, waters it more or less based on the weather and time of year. He edges the lawn, trims the bushes and picks up all the clippings.

That experience made me think. There are two types of workers in life. There are those who just "cut the grass". They do their job, and do it well. Then there are those who can sit back, assess the situation and determine what needs to be done to do the whole job. Our society needs both types of people. The first type generally work for the second type. And the second type, those who can stand back and look at the whole job usually end up in charge, and usually get paid more for doing it.

So what kind of worker are you going to be? The one who takes on the responsibility for maintaining a nice landscape? Or the one who just cuts the grass?

Thanks for listening.