An Invoice for Experience.
A giant ship’s engine failed and in spite of using many experienced professionals the owners couldn’t figure the issue.
Then they brought in a person who had been fixing ships since he was a young man .
He carried a large bag of tools with him and when he arrived , he immediately went to work.
He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship’s owners were there watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.
After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away and the engine was fixed!!!
A week later, the owners received an invoice from the old man for Rs 100,000.
What?! the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything..!!!”.
So they wrote to the man; “Please send us an itemized invoice “
The man sent an invoice that read:
Tapping with a hammer : 100 Rs
Knowing where to tap : 99900 Rs
Effort is important but knowing where to direct that effort is valuable & comes from experience !!