The "Pig in the pen principle;" Ever heard of it? I doubt it as it's my own creation, well the name is anyway.
The principle is as old as time itself.
It is to do with perspective.
Perspective is a really strange thing and determines how we see things.
Two people with different perspectives looking at the same data will absorb the data differently and arrive at different conclusions.
So why pig in the pen? Well, in another life I was a large-scale commercial farmer in Africa.
We had many income streams but amongst these was a pigery raising 6,000 pigs annually for market.
Now apologies to the organic free range phobias amongst us but the bottom line is you don't raise 6,000 pigs by giving each its own acre of ground to frolic in.
The pigs were housed very comfortably in spacious concrete pens with adequate light, ventilation and heat control, access to direct sunlight, clean running water and fresh bedding, but concrete pens never the less.
A pig's nose is an incredibly destructive weapon, much like an organic jack hammer.
They will constantly work at any weakness in any structure with their snouts until a small hole become a gaping chasm.
As such the pens had very sturdy door constructed out of heavy timber.
In short the pigs could not see the outside world.
Herein lies the relevance.
After spending many hours observing pig behaviour I noted that piglets born in pens very quite content.
They suckled on their mothers, and played with each other blissfully unaware of the outside world.
They were not unhappy simply because they had nothing to be unhappy about.
Because the inside of the pen was the only life they knew they could not compare their predicament with anything else.
However occasionally the inevitable happened; someone would leave a door open by mistake and the piglets would escape.
They would suddenly come face to face with the outside world they would run through the green grass-covered with early morning due, chase the butterflies and meet other farm animals.
This was heaven.
They never knew such a place existed.
Once caught and returned to the security of their pens they were no longer the happy little piglets they were an hour before, but frustrated very unhappy piglets indeed.
No longer did they play.
They stood by the door pawing it trying to get out.
So what changed? Simple; they had gained another perspective.
They now had a benchmark against which to gauge their own station in life.
We see it every day in life.
In business for example salaries are confidential.
Why, you may ask? Well because of the pig in the pen principle.
Joe is a faithful employee who has worked for you for years for £20,000 per annum.
He is happy with his job and lives quite comfortably on his income.
However one day he discovers that Fred his colleague doing a similar job gets £25,000 per annum.
Suddenly Joe is very unhappy.
Why? Because he realises he could have been better off.
What was a happy comfortable life is no more.
There is even a parable in the bible about this.
The story goes that a rich landowner who has extensive vineyards with the grapes ready for harvest goes to the village and employs half a dozen men to work in the vineyards until sunset for say 10 pieces.
Later that day he realises that he needs more labour if the job is to progress so just before lunch he again goes to the village and employs a second gang, also for 10 pieces.
The process repeats itself in mid afternoon.
At sunset the labourers gather to be paid, and the owner duly pays each 10 pieces.
Seeing this, the first gang are deeply upset.
"We've laboured since daybreak to dusk, through the heat of the day for 10 bushels" they shouted, "Yet these have worked but a few hours in the cool of the afternoon for the same reward.
How can this be?" "But" says the Landlord, What is your problem? Have I not rewarded each of you according to the contract we set? Why should you wish to tell me how to spend my money?" I think you get the picture.
Watch out for the Pig in the Pen principle.
It can cause deep rifts very easily.
The principle is as old as time itself.
It is to do with perspective.
Perspective is a really strange thing and determines how we see things.
Two people with different perspectives looking at the same data will absorb the data differently and arrive at different conclusions.
So why pig in the pen? Well, in another life I was a large-scale commercial farmer in Africa.
We had many income streams but amongst these was a pigery raising 6,000 pigs annually for market.
Now apologies to the organic free range phobias amongst us but the bottom line is you don't raise 6,000 pigs by giving each its own acre of ground to frolic in.
The pigs were housed very comfortably in spacious concrete pens with adequate light, ventilation and heat control, access to direct sunlight, clean running water and fresh bedding, but concrete pens never the less.
A pig's nose is an incredibly destructive weapon, much like an organic jack hammer.
They will constantly work at any weakness in any structure with their snouts until a small hole become a gaping chasm.
As such the pens had very sturdy door constructed out of heavy timber.
In short the pigs could not see the outside world.
Herein lies the relevance.
After spending many hours observing pig behaviour I noted that piglets born in pens very quite content.
They suckled on their mothers, and played with each other blissfully unaware of the outside world.
They were not unhappy simply because they had nothing to be unhappy about.
Because the inside of the pen was the only life they knew they could not compare their predicament with anything else.
However occasionally the inevitable happened; someone would leave a door open by mistake and the piglets would escape.
They would suddenly come face to face with the outside world they would run through the green grass-covered with early morning due, chase the butterflies and meet other farm animals.
This was heaven.
They never knew such a place existed.
Once caught and returned to the security of their pens they were no longer the happy little piglets they were an hour before, but frustrated very unhappy piglets indeed.
No longer did they play.
They stood by the door pawing it trying to get out.
So what changed? Simple; they had gained another perspective.
They now had a benchmark against which to gauge their own station in life.
We see it every day in life.
In business for example salaries are confidential.
Why, you may ask? Well because of the pig in the pen principle.
Joe is a faithful employee who has worked for you for years for £20,000 per annum.
He is happy with his job and lives quite comfortably on his income.
However one day he discovers that Fred his colleague doing a similar job gets £25,000 per annum.
Suddenly Joe is very unhappy.
Why? Because he realises he could have been better off.
What was a happy comfortable life is no more.
There is even a parable in the bible about this.
The story goes that a rich landowner who has extensive vineyards with the grapes ready for harvest goes to the village and employs half a dozen men to work in the vineyards until sunset for say 10 pieces.
Later that day he realises that he needs more labour if the job is to progress so just before lunch he again goes to the village and employs a second gang, also for 10 pieces.
The process repeats itself in mid afternoon.
At sunset the labourers gather to be paid, and the owner duly pays each 10 pieces.
Seeing this, the first gang are deeply upset.
"We've laboured since daybreak to dusk, through the heat of the day for 10 bushels" they shouted, "Yet these have worked but a few hours in the cool of the afternoon for the same reward.
How can this be?" "But" says the Landlord, What is your problem? Have I not rewarded each of you according to the contract we set? Why should you wish to tell me how to spend my money?" I think you get the picture.
Watch out for the Pig in the Pen principle.
It can cause deep rifts very easily.
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