Once upon a time, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but no one did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, he laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand – every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

-Author Unknown

Perhaps you are working alongside a low-level, unremarkable admin assistant. They are pleasant enough, but as far as you know don’t have much else to bring to the table.

This individual has to deliver a RPF or some sort of PowerPoint to the suits in the corner office. You have nothing to do with it. You overhear a conversation in the break room where our admin groans that they are overwhelmed with the mechanics of polishing images in the deck to make it  look professional.

You offer to not do the work for him/her, but to spend some time showing them how to use the software. It takes you 15 minutes.

It’s 6 months later: you’re unemployed.

You attend an after work mixer. Our admin is there.

He/she is in a different position now-  the admin assistant to the VP at a company you would love to work for.  They are very pleased to see you again.

Your reward for helping them move that PowerPoint boulder off the road is about to pay off.