The authorship of the story we present is easy to determine because it is shown are variations in the context and the characters, although the final message is the same.
On an early morning walk, an elderly teacher stopped with his students in a forest clearing, took a glass jar and a dozen stones from his saddlebag. He carefully placed the stones into the jar, one by one, until no other could enter. Then he asked the students: - Is the bottle full? The group answered affirmatively. With a mocking smile, the teacher took a bag of gravel and began to pour it on the stones, shaking the bottle so that the gravel would fill the free spaces between the stones. When he couldn't put any more gravel in the jar, he asked again, "Is the jar full?" Now, the wards replied: - Probably not. The teacher smiled knowingly. He took sand out of a bag and began to pour it on the stones and gravel, easily filling all the spaces.He repeated the same question and the group answered with complete certainty: - No. Then, he took a bottle of water out of the saddlebag, pouring the liquid on the bottle with stones, gravel and sand, until the water reached the edge.
At that moment he looked at his students and said: - Well, what do we get out of all this? One of them replied: - No matter how busy we are, if we work hard and strive we can always do a little more than we do now.-
"That is a not only wrong but dangerous conclusion," replied the teacher. The real lesson we can draw is that if we don't put the stones in the jar at first, then there will be no way to do it.
What are the stones in your life ? Your children, your friends, your dreams, your health, the loved one? Or is it your job, your meetings, your business trips, power or money? Perfect training? Enjoy at work? The choice is yours. Once you've made up your mind, put those stones first. The rest will find their place. If you spend some time defining the main goals, then you will be wisely using your time.
In a democratic government, in theory the voters give the confidence to someone who has the capacity, leadership, vision and strategic objectives and who prioritizes the government's action to attend to the big issues (the stones), without that meaning the neglect of minor issues. Reality offers us evidence of developed countries where this is done and that, therefore, their population has high standards of living today and potential for the future.
In this case, the voters are critical, educated, they know that the stones go first and then the rest, and they are also in a position to demand it; they can recognize the sham or the sham.
For the undeveloped countries, the big stones are the issues that must be resolved, they are urgency to get out of backwardness, complacency, tropical softness, false prosperity, they are: The absence of leadership, institutional weakness or absence, the absence of security citizen, poor education, lack of national identity, corruption entrenched in the entire state apparatus, control of the state by criminal groups (drug traffickers, smugglers, miners and illegal loggers, among others), de facto territorial fragmentation (politics, geographical, connections, culture, liberated areas under the control of criminal gangs).
For Peru, all the previous references apply, they are all great stones that must be placed first, but in no government there is the political will, vision and ability to do so, so they prefer to fill the jar with sand (populism) (Note 1).
The lack of economic resources cannot be used as an excuse, it is rather the lack of qualified and consistent human resources, with values and ethics, that prevents this action. It is a fallacy to argue that Peru is a poor country and that is why critical structural reforms cannot be made.
Unfortunately, in undeveloped countries like Peru, voters do not choose based on reason and critical sense to evaluate government plans, but rather on emotions, personal preferences and the expectation that the wonderful and outlandish promises of the candidates come true.. They end up choosing the most populist, the most fanciful and the one who finally does not fulfill any of the promises and acts in a totally opposite way to what people expected; they choose the one who fills the jar only with sand (Note 2).
These governments easily fill the jar with sand, then with a little effort and luck they will manage to introduce some gravel because the sand still gives way; maybe a little water but it will be impossible to place the big stones. It may be possible if you change the bottle (government and ruler) and acted correctly; but if the population continues with the same political ignorance, the same expectations (to receive free and effortless handouts), they will once again choose who they insist on and only know how to fill jars with sand. The history of Peru will be repeated until a leader emerges, who, like Alexander the Great, decides that the stones (the great affairs) are important.
This metaphor is applicable to people, as perceived in the wise man's final advice. It applies to companies, where a fan of sand bottles insists on putting their friends or accomplices in key positions, or verifying that a quasi-police people control system works perfectly.
It applies to governments and you can see the difference between countries. In Singapore the government decidedly placed the large stones, then placed the lighter material; Chile also insists on putting the big stones and then the rest of the material. In Peru, for convenience, incompetence, myopia, disability or immorality, the rulers only fill the jar with sand.
- Note 1. Populist programs that demand the use of large amounts of resources, generally administered with high discretion that facilitates corruption. In social budgets no more than 30% reaches those who must receive aid, the rest lose sinks (bureaucracy, embezzlement, embezzlement, overvaluation). In the state with the SERVIR program, it has taken out truly qualified professionals, putting in its place unconditional supporters of the current government, without professional, moral or executive competencies. Pure sand, no stone. Note 2. The current ruler promised to lower the gas to less than 10 soles (three dollars), however it sells for 40 soles (12 dollars), Peru being a producer of natural gas. Chile, the absolute buyer of fuels, sells it at a significantly lower price. It was believed that being a military man,would control crime; however, it seems that it did not exist and crime, omnipresent and omnipotent, is like a fifth power of the State (executive, legislative, judicial, electoral and criminal)
References
The big rocks of life http://www.appleseeds.org/PDF%20Files/08–09/Big%20Rocks_Covey.pdf
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