The Expansion Trap

A fisherman lived in a hut with his family at the edge of a beautiful beach. Early each morning, he would row out in his little boat and go about his work, which he enjoyed immensely.

When he had caught enough fish, he would quietly row back to shore, load the fish into a barrow, and walk to the local market to sell them from a stall. He would then buy any provisions his family needed and return to his hut, where his wife and children would cheerfully greet him.

One morning, he was loading his barrow with fish when a business man on holiday approached him. He had been pacing up and down the beach for days, trying unsuccessfully to unwind, and had seen the fisherman each morning pulling his boat onto the beach.

“What are you going to do with those fish?” he asked.

The fisherman said he was taking them to the market to sell at his stall. The conversation continued.

“You seem like a smart guy. Why don’t you employ someone to catch the fish and bring them to you at the market?”

“Then what would I do?”

“Good question. You can focus on selling more fish, and you can then employ more people to catch more fish, which means more sales.”

“Then what would I do?”

The businessman explained to the fisherman that he could invest the extra money in another stall.

“Who knows”, he added. “You could have a stall at every market in town.”

“Then what would I do?”

“You could then open an office in town and diversify into other businesses.”

“Then what would I do?”

The businessman excitedly explained that he could then construct his own premises, put his name on the front of the building, and have departments of people working for him, planning new projects and expanding his business. He added proudly that this is how he had built his own empire.

“But, then what would I do?”

This was all too much. The exasperated businessman shook his head and spluttered, “What do you mean, what would you do? You could relax and go fishing!”

The fisherman smiled and nodded, finished loading his barrow, and strolled off, leaving the stressed businessman scratching his head.

I first heard a version of this story when I was a student, which comes from a 1963 essay by Nobel Prize-winning author, Heinrich Böll.

It’s a reminder that external growth only has value if it leads a person toward the life they want. Also that it’s okay to enjoy what you do, and what you have, without striving for more, especially if this is just going to stress you out.

Until next time, let’s think twice before pushing others towards our version of success rather than theirs.