Using the same principle, J. Paul Getty found oil, and I found my car keys.
Have you ever lost your car keys? You look everywhere. You panic, “Oh my God, I’ve lost my keys.” That sinking feeling sets in …
It happened to me one time. And - quite by accident - I came up with a brilliant solution. I asked my ten year old daughter for some help. Here’s what I said … “I’ll give you twenty bucks if you can find my car keys!”
An amazing transformation took place right in front of my eyes. My daughter changed from an uncaring, unconcerned, uninterested bystander to an able bodied, spring loaded, chomping-at-the-bit, key-finding warrior. Her eyes took on a steely glaze as if to say, “Twenty bucks, no problem, I’ll find your keys.”
I watched as my newly recruited key-finding war machine started searching the house like a police trained bloodhound.
At first I didn’t think much of my idea. I figured it was just another way to confirm the keys were lost forever.
But, in less time than it takes to eat a potato chip, I heard the victory cry, “I got em!” My daughter walked straight up to me, stopped, then held out her right hand showcasing my car keys dangling from her first two fingers.
Flabbergasted I asked, “Where did you find them?” I thought, ‘Glad she found them, but come on - how’s she do it so quickly?’
“Dad, how could you not find them? They were right under your nose.” She replied as if rubbing in the fact that she just scored the easiest twenty bucks in history.
I never did find out the exact location of her find, but I didn’t care - I had my keys. I gladly paid her the twenty bucks.
Both of us felt happy, I got my keys, my daughter got her twenty bucks.
Striking Oil
What does this have to do with striking oil?
A lot.
I remember reading the book “How to Be Rich” by J. Paul Getty. In one chapter he talks about a particular oil well that wouldn’t deliver; dry - no oil.
Getty, one of the original ‘Wildcatters’ - the pioneer ‘oil hunters’ - knew this particular well should be ‘gushing.’ So, he assigned his best man to the task, a man who knew the ins and outs of drilling, an expert.
But, after sinking lots of money and time into the operation, Getty became frustrated, ‘How come the well is not producing? Makes no sense. It should be gushing, what’s the problem?’
Finally, Getty came up with an idea. He met his ‘best man’ at the well and delivered a short speech as follows: “I’ll give you ten percent of everything that comes out of the ground!”
Within a short time - maybe a little longer than it takes to eat a potato chip - oil came gushing out of the well!
Getty found the secret.
He turned his ‘expert’ - yet uninterested site manager - into a steely eyed, focused, oil finding warrior.
Both men felt happy, Getty got his gushing oil, his ‘best man’ got his ten percent cut.
Find your keys; find oil - same principle
So, there you have it, I used the same principle as J. Paul Getty. He used it to find oil; I used it to find my car keys.
Put the proper incentives in place and then stand back and watch folks move both heaven and earth to achieve the desired result.
Uh-oh! I just realized something, I can’t find my wallet!
Time to use the principle again … where’s my daughter?