A manager at a big corporation suffered a heart attack, and his doctor gave him strict orders: take a break, slow down, and spend a few weeks somewhere peaceful to recover. So the manager headed to a quiet farm, far away from deadlines, meetings, and office stress, hoping fresh air would do him good.
After just a couple of days, the manager was already bored. Used to constant activity, he asked the farmer if there was any work he could help with. The farmer, amused, handed him a huge pile of cow manure to clean up, thinking a city executive would give up within an hour. To his surprise, the manager finished the entire job in less than a day.
The next morning, the farmer decided to raise the stakes. He gave the manager a much tougher task: behead 500 chickens. Confident this would finally be too much, the farmer went about his day. But by evening, the manager had completed the job without complaint.
On the third day, with nearly all the chores done, the farmer handed the manager a bag of potatoes. “Sort these into two boxes,” he said. “Small potatoes in one box, large potatoes in the other.”
The farmer checked back at the end of the day and was stunned. The manager was sitting on a stool, staring at the bag of potatoes. Both boxes were still completely empty.
Confused, the farmer asked, “You handled manure and chickens just fine. Why haven’t you sorted a single potato?”
The manager sighed deeply and said, “Look, physical labor I can handle. But making decisions? That’s what gave me the heart attack in the first place.”
