Least Effort for Best Results

Last week’s blog about Colt reminded me of an incident that occurred during a leadership retreat I led several years ago. My friend, Lindy Segall, assisted me by taking retreat participants into a “round pen” with a horse. As each participant came forward for his/her time with the horse, Lindy coached them on what to ask the horse to do and how to get the results they wanted.

One man, the president of an engineering company, had difficulty. “Ask the horse to come to you,” Lindy said. The man said, “Come here.” The horse just stood there. Lindy said, “Try again.” This time louder, the man said, “Come here!!!!” Still, the horse just stood there. In fact, he backed away. Point made. I don’t think this guy was ever successful with the horse.

But there was a young lady up next. Lindy’s instructions were the same. “Ask the horse to come to you.” She said nothing. She held out her hand. The horse came to her. She had tears in her eyes. So did we.

You write it: How did you learn that sometimes the least effort yields the best results?