The Chinese Bamboo Tree

A farmer planted Chinese bamboo seeds.

The first year—nothing happened.
The second year—nothing happened.
The third year—still nothing.
By the fourth year, neighbors laughed:

“Your land is empty.”

The farmer kept watering the soil.

In the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly grew over 80 feet in just six weeks.

What no one saw was that for four years, the bamboo was growing underground, building an invisible root system strong enough to support its height.

Had the farmer stopped in the fourth year, the bamboo would never have risen.

One Story………………………………….Many Lessons

• Opinion without effort has no weight
  • The farmer never gave speeches about bamboo.
    He showed up daily when there was nothing to show.

If you are not investing time, effort, or risk, your opinion is just noise.

• Results come from patience + participation
  • For four years, progress looked like failure.
    Only someone personally invested could stay the course.
    

“If you are not watering the roots, you have no right to comment on the height.“

• Ethics is strongest when accountability is unavoidable.
  • For four years, the farmer is accountable to:
    • The seed he planted
    • The land he chose
  • No one is watching.
  • No one is rewarding him.
    • Yet he continues.

“Incentives guide behavior when someone is watching- Ethics guide behavior when no one is watching“

“When it’s time to harvest, will the roots show your fingerprints—or someone else’s?”

Bibliography

Skin in the Game – Nassim Nicholas Taleb