A vacationing American businessman, standing on the pier of a remote coastal fishing village in southern Mexico, watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.
“How long did it take you to catch them?”the American casually asked.
“Oh, a few hours,” the Mexican fisherman replied. “Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” the American businessman then asked.
The Mexican warmly replied, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The businessman then became serious, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, “I sleep late, play with my children, watch ball games, and take a nap with my wife. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, sing a few songs…”
The American businessman impatiently interrupted, “Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable. You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. With the additional income that larger boat will bring, before long you can buy a second boat, then a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats.”Proud of his own sharp thinking, he excitedly elaborated a grand scheme which could bring even bigger profits, “Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you’ll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise.”
Having never thought of such things, the Mexican fisherman asked, “But how long will all this take?”
After a rapid mental calculation, the Harvard MBA pronounced, “Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard.”
“And then what, sir?” asked the fisherman.
“Why, that’s the best part!” answered the businessman with a laugh. “When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”
“Millions? Really? What would I do with it all?”asked the young fisherman in disbelief.
The businessman boasted, “Then you could happily retire with all the money you’ve made. You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ballgames, and take naps with your wife. You could stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your friends all you want.”
翻译：
在墨西哥南部一个偏远小渔村的码头上，一个正在度假的美国商人站在那里，看着一个年轻的墨西哥渔夫将自己的小船拖进船坞里。小船里有几条很大的黄鳍金枪鱼。享受着下午时分的温暖阳光，这个美国人夸奖墨西哥渔夫的那几条鱼还不错。
美国人漫不经心地问道，“你抓这几条鱼花了多长时间啊？”
“哦，也就几个小时吧。”墨西哥渔夫回答说。美国商人接着问，“那你干嘛不在海上多待会儿多抓些鱼呢？”
渔夫开心地回答，“有这几条，就足够我养活家人了。”
商人变得严肃起来，“那你接下来的时间用来干什么呢？”
渔夫笑了笑，回答说，“我起得很晚，陪我的孩子们玩会儿，看看球赛，陪我老婆打个盹儿。有时候我会在晚上散步到村子里去看看朋友，弹吉它、唱唱歌……
这位美国商人不耐烦地打断了他，“听我说，我是哈佛的MBA，我能帮你赚得更多。你从每天多打几个小时的鱼开始，这样你就可以将多出来的鱼卖掉，用这些余钱，你可以买条大船，这能帮你挣更多的钱，要不了多久你就能再买一条船，接着买第三条，第四条……如此下去，你可以组成一支渔船队。”他为自己敏锐的思维沾沾自喜，兴奋地说着一大套能赚更多钱的宏伟的规划。“然后，你就不用把鱼卖给中间商了，可以直接卖个加工产，甚至可以自己开个罐头厂。最终，你能掌控整个生产、加工、销售链条。你可以离开这个小渔村搬到墨西哥城去，甚至可能搬到洛杉矶或纽约去，在那里你可以进一步扩大自己的业务。”
从未考虑过这些事情，墨西哥渔夫困惑地问他，“这需要多长时间能实现？”
经过一番快速核算，哈佛的MBA回答说，“大概需要15-20年吧，如果你够努力，也许要不了那么长时间。”
渔夫又问，“那接下来我该干嘛呢？”
“嗨，终于说到点子上了。”商人笑着说，“等时机成熟，你就让公司上市，挣一大笔钱。你可以挣上千把万。”
“千把万？真的假的？我用这些钱来干什么呢？”年轻的渔夫有点难以置信。
商人继续自吹自擂，“那时候，你就可以带着挣到的钱退休了。你搬到一个宁静的海边渔村，在那里你可以起得很晚，陪孙子孙女们玩会儿，看看球赛，陪老婆打个盹儿。有时候还可以晚上散步到村子里去，和朋友一起弹吉它、唱唱歌。”
