In 1979, James M. Webber wrote this parable in an essay, and here is a summarized version of it:
Once upon a time, an apple grower of a 10,000-acre orchard went to the nearby town and hired 1,000 apple pickers. He told them:
“Go to my orchards. Harvest the ripe apples and build storage buildings for them so that they will not spoil. I must be gone for a while, but I will provide all you need to complete the task. When I return, I will reward you for your work. I’ll set up a ‘Society for the Picking of Apples’— who will be responsible for the entire operation. In addition to actual harvesting, some will carry supplies, others will care for the physical needs of the group, and still others will have administrative responsibilities.”
The story goes on to say that out of these 1,000 apple pickers, 100 went out to pick apples on 800 acres near the farmer’s homestead. They brought a good harvest of delicious apples, keeping the packers busy! However, only six pickers went out to work on the remaining 9,200 acres in faraway areas!
Meanwhile, the rest of the 900 workers got busy with various committees and projects, developing better methods of plucking, packing, and storing the apples. They built better storage buildings, and others worked on research and development in manufacturing better ladder systems and packaging methods. They also set up a transport unit to bring in the harvest.
Soon, the ‘Apple Picker’s Welfare Society’ was set up, and many got busy constructing better homes for the workers, schools for their children, medical centers, and administration offices.
As the harvest was brought in, others specialized in grading, labeling, and packing it with their unique brands. They divided the storage facilities according to their brand and strictly guarded them using a special security division. They also developed an ‘APD’ degree program—Apple Pickers Degree—and enrolled the rest of the workers to study this program.
So, the orchard was buzzing with activity from packers, builders, drivers, maintenance workers, researchers, teachers, medical workers, security guards, and many other professions, and 95% of the budget was spent on these activities.
While all this was happening, only 94 workers were bringing the harvest of 800 acres nearby, and only 6 Pickers were engaged in faraway 9,200 acres, where the apples rotted and perished.
When the six returned to the homestead to convey the urgency of picking apples to prevent them from perishing, the rest discouraged them from returning to faraway acres and offered them better opportunities in the Homestead.
So, the ‘Packers’ outnumbered the ‘Pickers!’
What do you think the Farmer would have done when he returned?