The Multibillionaire was on stage. He saw a sea of faces looking up to him from the crowded, large theatre. There was no standing room. It was packed to the rafters. The spotlight shone on him and the table in front of him. It shone on a large brown-coloured egg kept in an open, beautiful red velvet-lined tiny gold casket. The image of him, next to that of the brightly illuminated brown egg was projected on to a large screen display behind him and on large television screens all around the theatre and outside for those that could not get in.
The buzz of the crowd died out quickly as he approached the mike and tapped it a couple of times to check that it was working. The silence was literally a pin-drop one. Thousands of people, most of them young graduates, listened to him with a fervent admiration and adulation. Most of them would gladly follow him or his advice to be worth a fraction of him financially. A lot of the older generation too looked at him with a mixture of puzzlement and some grudging admiration. Many of them wanted their children to follow in his footsteps, since they were themselves a bit tired and worn out.
It was a ‘Jobs Fair’ at the annual gathering of local universities. It was a means of getting the job-seekers and employers together, getting some news and media coverage and advertising for the universities and companies, all in one place.
The Multibillionaire himself never went to university, but was so successful in life that people listened to him seriously when he urged students to stay in school and complete their university education. He was one of wealthiest persons on the planet according to his share holdings. The media liked to focus on that.
In reality, however, the company he ran was in considerable debt and he was going through a costly separation and headed for divorce. His real worth, if everything was accounted for, would be in a few paltry millions. He and the media however, both had an interest in keeping up the image of his extreme wealth. He was also the darling of political power brokers in many countries and the poster boy for politicians of even some opposing political parties, to whom he ‘donated’ generously as he was expected to do. He was desperately trying to start up a new range of products and develop a base of consumers capitalizing on his fame. He hoped to utilize this opportunity to build up the hype and anticipation for his venture, which he hoped would save his current company and bail them out of their precarious situation that was not publicly known. He really, desperately wanted and needed his new venture to succeed spectacularly, but kept that well hidden behind his confident, happy, shiny façade. Very few, close to him, knew the real situation. They all had a stake in keeping quiet and going along with whatever was his game plan.
He had been invited to be one of the star speakers at this ‘Jobs Fair’ with a lot of publicity. He had come along with his Human Resources and Recruitment (HRR) managers to hire a few students for his new venture. He let it be known to them that he was not happy at the kind of people they were hiring for a while. He had felt that the initial success of his company due to his own efforts had been squandered by others. He had told them, he would take charge and give them a demonstration of his principles and values he sought, rather than lecture them about it. He had decided to utilize this ‘Jobs Fair’ opportunity to teach his management, what kind of people to hire and how to build up a massive following. They were all sitting on stage behind him watching him or in the front row seats in the theatre, eager to learn.
He looked around side to side, smiling at the audience even though he could not see them for the blinding spotlight on him. However, to the audience, it appeared that he was looking slowly at each of them.
“Hello! Good evening, all! Thank you for having me…” he cheerfully started, but could not complete the sentence as a thunderous welcoming applause broke out from the audience. He paused thoughtfully, smiled, took a bow humbly to let the cheers die down. It did not seem like it would soon.
“Thank you! Thank you!” he tried to cut in and quieten the audience. They paused, but as soon as he drew a breath, the roar of the cheering crowds started again. He heard his name being called out by a few over-enthusiastic fans. A rock-star could not have asked for more. He let them go on. He turned to his team on stage, smiling, ever so slightly shaking his head. They were all used to this effect he had on people.
After a full minute, he decided it was enough. He spoke more seriously and firmly into the mike.
“Folks! Behold this purple egg!” he shouted as he picked up the little golden casket with the egg and held it forward.
The crowd fell suddenly silent even as he started to speak. As he finished and the image of him holding out the largish brown-coloured egg set against a deep red-velvet cloth was flashed on the screens, there were gasps – some of awe and some of perhaps confusion.
A lot of the audience and the Billionaire’s own company managers on stage were all stunned. They could all see the seeming glaring error or colour blindness implied, but everyone believed him to be a very intelligent and clever individual. No one said anything aloud for a few seconds.
The Billionaire let it all sink in for a couple of seconds. He had a confident smile on his face, as he looked towards the audience. He leaned forward slightly as if to hear them better. Just as he started to hear a weak cry of protest in the back, ”But the colour seems...” he spoke out in a booming voice into the mike.
“Our life starts out in an egg. It develops into something you cannot imagine when looking at an egg. This egg represents a new concept, a new idea and it will grow into something you may not be able to imagine. This egg has everything that is needed for it to grow into something spectacular and big. Let me tell you what I see in the future of this egg.”
He now had the undivided attention of all. They were quiet, seemingly hypnotised and hanging on to his every word and expression.
“All you fresh graduates out there - welcome to the working, adult world!! I hope the brightest and best of you will join me and our new company as we incubate and develop our new company that I am announcing here today. It is – The Purple Egg!” he proclaimed, with an added, obvious emphasis on the word ‘Purple’ that let the audience know, he knew what was going through their minds. Many thought that he was clever than themselves and there would have to be a way that he was right and they were wrong. That set some doubting minds at rest. They were intrigued. They wanted to hear more. His company had received the largest number of applications among the aspiring job-seekers.
“I want to tell you a story about this egg and how it represents a great future for all of us. I want you to listen to me, hear me out and then decide for yourself if you want to join me on a path an incredible future for all of us. I see great opportunities, the potential for great wealth as part of a great way of living on this planet, which is a gift to us from a higher power. We have so far abused our gift and not treated it well. Look at the state we have brought this to. We have created a hell of a mess on earth. This egg and what it will grow into, will help us show our gratitude to the ultimate authority that has let us live on this lovely earth of ours. We need to clean up our mess and create our heaven here on earth.”
Now, suddenly all the ‘greenies’ and environmentally conscious among the audience were hooked. Some looked a bit puzzled. One of his ‘Green credential’ HRR managers understood this and whispered excitedly to her colleagues. They were impressed. They were all taking notes furiously and passed slips of paper to each other.
“Did you know that tourists in many parts of Asia, litter the walking tracks up the mountains and the locals have hired a lot of labourers who sweep the paths and meadows clean with brooms made of reeds, grass or the spines of coconut leaves bunched together? They pick up the litter, and sweep the mess as best as they can, much like they do at their homes. They cannot afford vacuum cleaners or fancy machinery.
One day, I was walking along up a recently swept mountain path in the Himalayas on my last spiritual retreat. I was contemplating the mess and clutter of life and how to make things better. You could say, I was seeking inspiration from a higher power. I stopped to rest and look around. I sat on a little rock next to a larger boulder on the side of the path. There was a broom left wedged between the two, apparently by a worker who had been there a little while ago and gone on a break. I sat on the rock and looked onto the valley below. As I looked around, I saw an eagle like bird in the distance, above me and swooping toward me. It flew low down overhead and I saw something drop on to the big rock next to me. There was a shattering roar and sound and I felt the rock, on which I sat, shake. I got up and saw that the big rock next to me had split open and one piece had tipped over to its side while the other had tilted a bit. I moved closer to look and saw this egg lying in the crack between the two pieces of rock on some rubbish that had been caught in the gap. I was shocked. While I was still stunned, the big bird that had flown past came circling and landed on the split rock. It suddenly transformed into a big, majestic, beak-nosed, man clad in gold and purple robes with a regal bearing and a commanding voice.
“I know what you were thinking,” he said to me, “Clean up your act. Clean up your personal mess, help clean up the mess of this world.”
Even without him saying so, I realised this was the form of a higher power, the true King, the true lord of us all. I could tell this because he was wearing a royal purple and gold. He knew my innermost thoughts and feelings and spoke to the search of my heart at that moment.”
“What do I do?” I asked
“Pick up the broom, clean up the mess around the egg. Take the egg home. Keep it carefully. Let it remind you and humanity of your purpose in life from here on. To attain heaven, you need to clean out the mess in your world, for that you first need sweep out the dirt in your heart and in your soul. This broom is a symbol of the tool you need. Go on, help clean up the world. Get others to help you. Those who understand my message and have faith will follow you. It will be come your calling, your business and your contribution to the world.
He then waved his arms and transformed into an eagle and flew away.”
Now, a good portion of the audience was in shock - psychologically and morally in shock! They were not used to professional company CEOs talking like this. This was unprecedented stuff. Many were confused and did not know what to make of this. Even his management team was looking flabbergasted. The TV cameras and media had a sensational story now. However, the Billionaire knew, he now had a lot of people with strong spiritual faith and inclination hooked. One HRR managers could understand this. He excitedly passed on a note to his colleagues “A lot of the faithful will be on board”. Some of the atheist greenies were still inclined to go along as long as the job of cleaning up the earth was a goal. Some emotionally upset ultra-rationalists left the camp at that moment. Some paused calmly to think about how it might be beneficial to them even if they did not intellectually agree with this wild story. Many saw the potential for a dedicated and committed market for whatever the product this thing led to. They felt good and wanted to get on board and join the company.
The Billionaire continued, seemingly oblivious to the consternation he had caused among the audience, in his usual confident, calm, reassuring businesslike tone.
“I picked up the broom and swept aside the litter around the egg. I bagged the rubbish to take it down with me to my hotel. I took out the egg and carefully pocketed it. It does not weigh any more than a normal egg. I know I witnessed a miracle with a message for me and humanity. I have since thought deeply about it. I have come up with a new product. It is an all-purpose broom that can be used on hard stone floors or carpeted ones. It is both a vacuum cleaner and broom. It is light, rechargeable and the handle can store the collected dirt and be emptied easily. Even remote villages in the Himalayas now have electricity reaching them. So it can be used even there to make the job of those labourers a bit easier. We can sell these in the hundreds of millions to bring down the cost to extremely affordable levels. In fact my vision is ‘A Purple Egg Broom In Every Room’. It will enable people to think of cleanliness in every room, every day with a couple of sweeps it becomes easier to maintain a clean house and remind them to clean out their hearts as well. It will help make the world a better place.”
“I want to hire the best among you to help me design and make ‘The Universal Purple Egg Broom’ the first of its kind and help clean up the world.
I hope to see many of you who have applied for a job with us, in interviews that will be commencing shortly. Wish you all the very best in life. Thank you!”
He stepped back from the mike to thunderous applause, cheers, some wild whistling and calling too. The media had a feeding frenzy as they caught the expressions of the audience, the Billionaire, his management team and even representatives of other companies. It was obvious that this story had just begun and would be in the news for a while longer. The initial shock and disbelief at the incongruity of the brown egg being called the Purple Egg was lost in the discussion of the eccentricity of the Billionaire’s spiritual experience, miracle and the hard-nosed business case and market opportunity. No one really wanted to argue or second guess an already hugely successful billionaire. He was a legend in his own lifetime and few cared to point out the small obvious mistakes that probably were not really mistakes, but probably something very deep and subtle, in many people’s opinion. Only a small number thought that he was ‘wrong’.
The Billionaire went across to his management team and sat down among them as they finished applauding him. He then left for a personal break for a couple of hours.
Soon they all trooped out to a pre-interview meeting with him in a conference room. They sorted the applicants and their resumes online. In about an hour, the Billionaire joined them.
As they sat down for a discussion, the Billionaire looked around with a slight smile and asked his HRR Vice President, “Amy, So what do you think? What kind of response do you think we will have?”
Amy replied, “Honestly, I think we have lost some of the applicants. About 10% of the students with the top grades have withdrawn their applications in the past hour. Should we be concerned?”
The Billionaire smiled and replied, “I expected as much. It is what I wanted. These are mostly the super self-righteous, bookish types, who see things in black and white - themselves as right and others as wrong. Or they are just as self-assured about themselves and will not last long with us. They may strike out on their own. They may be technically smart, but cannot function well with people like us who see things differently and they know it. That is why they have withdrawn. There are others just as smart as them and better to work with. I would not worry about it as long as there are still more than a hundred of the top graders.”
“Yes, we still have the interest of about 90% that had applied, way more than we can hire,” said the HRR Vice President Amy.
“Good! Let us move on. What are your impressions on the kind of people you think we will attract for this?” asked the Billionaire.
“I guess we would have gotten a lot of Greenies that would normally not be with us. I think we would have added a number of the spiritually faithful people, but lost some,” said the VP smiling.
“Yes, as long as the business makes sense, they will feel better spiritually. Even those that do not subscribe to my specific religion are more comfortable with others just like them. They dislike ‘non-believers’ or ‘godless’ ones. However, some feel strongly negatively about any brand other than their own. We will lose them too and that is for the better. We will get the kind of people who can get along with each other for their self-interest even if they are of different political or religious persuasions. Okay, let us proceed with the interviews. I will sit in on a few first ones and then will have to leave,” said the Billionaire.
He went and sat with a small panel that was interviewing the candidates with the top academic scores. He set out the “Purple Egg” in the table in front of them, as the other panel members exchanged glances. No one said a word.
The first candidate was called in. She entered, greeted everyone politely but had a doubtful expression looking at the egg.
The Billionaire let the interview continue. It seemed to go very well. She seemed interested in working for the company and was technically very good and they could use a person like that.
Suddenly, the Billionaire took a brief silence to address the candidate and ask her “What does this Purple Egg make you want to do? Does it motivate you to work for this company?”
“Sir, with all due respect, Can you not see this is a brown egg, not a purple one? Why do you call this a purple egg? Also, you say this egg caused a huge rock to split open, but that it weighs about a normal egg and needs to be kept carefully. How is this possible?”
“But I see this purple egg as one given by the Lord and cannot question that,” said the Billionaire with a deeply convinced tone.
The girls looked uncomfortable and tried hard to not show it. She soon left.
“Put her on the strike out list,” said the Billionaire.
This went on for a while and the Billionaire asked every candidate that came in the same question.
Some were smiling, comfortable and did not show any strong aversion to the brown egg being called ‘The Purple Egg’ while some were quite visibly uncomfortable. A few suggested calling it the ‘Brown Egg’. A couple suggested painting the egg purple. The Billionaire kept a very convincing appearance of genuinely believing the egg to be purple, but not getting into a detailed argument. A few dared to challenge him about the implausibility of the miracle of the egg shattering a big rock. The Billionaire was not perturbed. He calmly stuck to his version of events. He seemed to assume it as a given that he was right about it, and that the candidates were the ones who were perhaps mistaken.
After they left, he asked the committee to put every one of the candidates who had openly stated that the egg was brown and NOT purple, or questioned the miracles openly, to be put on the potential strike out list.
“After you are done with all the candidates, call me first thing tomorrow morning if you do not have enough to hire,” he said and left.
The committee was a bit puzzled, but did as told. Surprisingly, they did find enough candidates to hire.
When the final list of hires was finalized and all done, one day the HRR Vice President Amy could not contain herself. She asked the Billionaire politely as she they stood at the watercooler.
“Sir, why did you not want to hire those really smart, capable people, who were otherwise qualified and the only reason was they did not accept that the egg was purple?”
“Amy, could you not figure that out? Do you want me to spell it out for you,” asked the Billionaire with an intent and thoughtful expression looking at her.
“Yes, I am not sure about it. Could you tell me?” Amy replied,
“Well, for us to succeed as a company, while we need people who are smart, question and challenge us on how we go about our day to day operations, but we also need them to believe and have faith in certain crucial matters and core principles. These people did not have enough faith,” replied the Billionaire.
It was then that Amy truly understood him.