Stop Moaning and Get Off the Nail
This wonderful story was shared with me by Frasier a few years back… and well I think he nails it! 
Recently I’ve had contact with some very interesting people at work. It doesn’t seem to matter how something is, they complain about how bad everything is. I guess they’ve been doing it for so long at times they miss the point while they are letting others around know how bad something is. It reminded me of a story I heard a number of years ago.
A number of years ago a salesman had gotten lost and drove up to a house to ask for directions. He got out of his car and walked up to the porch where an elderly gentleman was rocking in his rocking chair and an old blood hound lay stretched out near by. As he approached the dog lifted his head and let out a moan. A moment later the dog again lifted his head and moaned. The salesman began to ask for directions when he was interrupted by the dog moaning. He almost got his question out when the dog moaned again.
Finally the salesman asked, “What’s wrong with your dog?”
The old man looked down at the dog and then to the salesman and said, “He’s lying on a nail.”
“Lying on a nail?”, asked the surprised salesman.
“Yep”, said the old man, “It bothers him enough to complain about it, but not enough to do anything about it.”
Doesn’t that seem to be the way with some folks. They’ll complain about something, but they won’t do anything about it.
We don’t have to have the same outlook. If something is bothering you then it is probably bothering someone else too. Take that step to do something about it. You can effect change.
 Make it a moan free weekend by getting off the nail.
Kirk Out
March 26th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
While reading your T4D, it reminded me of your book, “The Dog Poop Initiative”….same “Dog” but different story.
Have a great weekend!
Luann Goerdt, LMT
April 9th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I shared this with my support team and the first thing they said was”Why didn’t the owner help the dog get off the nail?” I guess I need to keep that in mind as a manager. I need to do whatever I can to empower my team so they aren’t sitting on nails.
Thanks again Kirk!!!
Ken Heister
April 9th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
The answer may be because some pets are just like their owners….
Or it could be … because if I do everything for a person…I actually disable them. at some point..people have to make up their minds to do something for themselves… sadly for many they settle for just moaning and whining.
Kirk