The
Parable of the Pipeline (from Burke Hedges)
Note:
This document is for private use of the owner of this site. The The Parable of
the Pipeline by Burke Hedges, INTI Publishing (ISBN 1-891279-05-x) is a
trademarked book. Any reproduction is forbidden.
INTRODUCTION
1801,
Valley in central
Once
upon a time long, long ago, two ambitious young cousins named Pablo and Bruno
lived side by side in a small Italian village.
The
young men were best buddies.
And
big dreamers.
They
would talk endlessly about how some day, some way, they would become the richest
men in the village. They were both bright and hard working. All they needed was
an opportunity.
One
day that opportunity arrived. The village decided to hire two men to carry water
from a nearby river to a cistern in the town square. The job went to Pablo and
Bruno.
Each
man grabbed (took) two buckets and
headed to the river. By the end of the day, they had filled the town cistern to
the brim (edge). The village elder
pay them one penny for each bucket of water.
‘This
is our dream come true!” shouted Bruno. “I can’t believe our good
fortune.”
But
Pablo wasn’t so sure.
His
back ached and his hands were blistered from carrying the heavy buckets. He dreaded
(feared) getting up and going to work the next morning. He vowed to think of
a better way of getting the water from the river to the village.
Pablo,
the Pipeline Man
“Bruno,
I have a plan,” Pablo said the next morning as they grabbed their buckets and
headed for the river. “Instead of lugging
(carrying) buckets back and forth for pennies a day, let’s build a
pipeline from the river to the village.”
Bruno
stopped dead in this tracks.
“A
pipeline! Whoever heard of such a thing?” Bruno shouted. “We got a great
job, Pablo. I can carry 100 buckets a day. At a penny a bucket, that’s a
dollar a day! I’m rich! By the end of the week, I can buy a new pair of shoes.
By the end of the month, a cow. By the end of six months, I can build a new hut.
We have the best job in town. We have week ends off and two weeks’ paid
vacation every year. We’re set for life! Get out of here with your
pipeline.”
But
Pablo was not easily discouraged. He patiently explained the pipeline plan to
this best friend. Pablo would work
part of the day carrying buckets and then part of the day and weekends building
his pipeline. He knew it would be hard work digging the ditch in the rocky soil.
Because he was paid by the bucket, he knew his income would drop at first. He
also new it would take a year, possibly two, before his pipeline would start to
pay big dividends. But Pablo believed in his dream, and he went to work.
Bruno
and the rest of the villagers began to mocking Pablo, calling him “Pablo the
Pipeline Man.” Bruno, who was earning almost twice as much money as Pablo,
flaunted his new purchases. He bought a donkey outfitted with a new leather
saddle, which he kept parked outside his new two-story hut. He bought flashy
(appealing) clothes and fancy (extravagant)
meals at the inn. The villagers called him Mr. Bruno, and they cheered when the
bought rounds at the tavern and laughed loudly at his jokes.
Small Actions Equal big
results
While Bruno lay in his hammock
on evenings and weekends, Pablo kept digging his pipeline. The fist months Pablo
didn’t have much to show for his efforts. The work was hard – even harder
that Bruno’s because Pablo was working evenings and weekends, too.
But Pablo kept reminding
himself that tomorrow’s dreams are built on today’s sacrifices. Day by day
he dug, an inch at a time.
“Inch by inch it’s a
cinch,” he chanted to himself as he swung his pickax into the rocky soil.
Inches turned into one hoot… then 10 feet… then 20…100…
“Short term pain equals
long-term gain,” he reminded himself as he stumbled into his humble hut
exhausted from another day’s work. He measured his success by setting and
meeting his daily goals, knowing that, over time, the results would far exceed
his efforts.
“Keep your eyes on the
prize,” he repeated over and over as the drifted off to sleep accompanied by
the sounds of laughter from the village tavern.
“Keep your eyes on the
prize…”
The Tables Are Turned
Days turned into months. One
day Pablo realized his pipeline was halfway finished, which meant he only had to
walk half as far to fill up his buckets! Pablo used the extra time to work on
his pipeline. The completion date was advancing faster and faster.
During his rest breaks, Pablo
watched his old friend Bruno lug buckets. Bruno’s shoulders were more stooped
that ever. He was hunched in pain, his steps slowed by the daily grind. Bruno
was angry and sullen, resenting the fact that he was doomed to carry buckers,
day in and day out, for the rest of his life.
He began spending less time in
his hammock and more time in the tavern. When the tavern’s patrons saw Bruno
coming, they’d whisper “here comes Bruno the Bucket Man,” and they’d
giggle when the town drunk mimicked Bruno’s stooped posture and shuffling
gait. Bruno didn’t buy rounds or tell jokes anymore, preferring to sit alone
in a dark corner surrounded by empty bottles.
Finally, Pablo’s big day
arrived – the pipeline was complete! The villagers crowed around as the water
gushed from the pipeline into the village cistern!
Now that the village had a steady supply of fresh water, people from the
surroundings countryside moved into the village, and it grew and prospered.
Once the pipeline was complete,
Pablo didn’t have to carry buckets anymore. The water flowed whether he worked
or not. It flowed while he ate. It flowed while he slept. If flowed on the
weekends while he played. The more the water flowed into the village, the more
the money flowed into Pablo’s pockets!
Pablo the Pipeline Man became
known as Pablo the Miracle Maker. Politicians lauded him for his vision and
begged him to run for mayor. But Pablo understood that what he had accomplished
wasn’t a miracle. It was merely the fist stage of a big, big dream. You see,
Pablo had plans that reached far beyond his village.
Pablo planned to build
pipelines all over the world!
Recruiting His Friend to
Help
The pipeline drove Bruno the
Bucket Man out of business, and it pained Pablo to see his old friend begging
for free drinks in the tavern. So, Pablo arranged a meeting with Bruno.
“Bruno, I’ve come here to
ask you for your help.”
Bruno straightened his stooped
shoulders, and his dark yes narrowed to a squint. “Don’t mock me,” Bruno
hissed.
“I haven’t come here to
gloat,” said Pablo, “I’ve come here to offer you a great business
opportunity. It took me more than two years before my first pipeline was
complete. But I’ve learned a lot during those two years! I know what tools to
use. Where to dig. How to lay the pipe. I kept notes as I went along, and I’ve
developed a system that will allow me to build another pipeline… and
another…and another.
“I could build a pipeline a
year by myself. But that would not be the best use of my time. What I plan to do
is to teach you and others how to build a pipeline… and then have you teach
others…and have each of them teach others.. until there is a pipeline to every
village in the region…then a pipeline in every village in the country… an
eventually, a pipeline to every village in the world!
“Just think.” Pablo
continued, “we could make a small percentage of every gallon of water that
goes through those pipelines, the more money water that flows through the
pipelines, the more money that will flow into our pockets. The pipeline I built
isn’t the end of a dream. It’s only the beginning!’
Bruno finally say the Big
Picture. He smiled and extended his callused hand to his old friend. The shook
hands…and then hugged like long-lost friends.
Pipeline Dreams in a
Bucket-Carrying World
Years passed. Pablo and Bruno
had long since retired. Their worldwide pipeline business was still pumping
millions of dollars a year into their bank accounts. Sometimes on their trips
through the countryside, Pablo and Bruno would pass young men carrying buckets.
The childhood friends would
pull over and tell the young men their story and offer to help them to build
their own pipeline. A few would listen and jump at the opportunity to start a
pipeline business. But sadly, most bucket carriers would hastily dismiss the
notion of a pipeline. Pablo and Bruno heard the same excused over and over.
“I don’t have the time.”
“My friend told me he knew a
friend of a friend who tried to build a pipeline and failed.”
“Only the ones who get in
early make money on pipelines.”
“I’ve carried buckets all
my life. I’ll stick with what I Know.’
I know some people who lost
money in a pipeline scam. Not me.”
It made Pablo and Bruno sad
that so many people lacked vision.
But both men resigned
themselves to the fact that they lived in a bucket-carrying world…and that
only a small percentage of people dared to dream pipeline dreams
(End of Introduction)