Sometimes an old fairy tale explains things better than any business book. A bit like those stories with an unexpected ending, where it’s not only the main plot that matters, but also what you learn if you stop and think, observe, and read between the lines.
In this tale the story itself is one thing, but inside it there is a separate, almost independent line. The Ferryman.
For reasons unknown, he keeps carrying passengers across the river, and even he does not really know why this became his duty. No one appointed him. No one forced him. He simply took the oars once and never stopped. A sense of duty and honor keeps him helping people, even though he no longer enjoys it, but there is no one else. And so the years pass.
Within the story, when he asks how long he must keep ferrying people, he receives a simple answer. Give the oars to the first passenger and leave him in the middle of the river. He does exactly that and frees himself from both the burden and the responsibility. According to the tale, the solution had always been that simple.
Here comes the irony. The responsibility ends up falling on the villain of the story. But that is another topic.
Very often, we feel like the Ferryman ourselves. One task, then another, then a third. Mostly because we see that either no one else will do it, or not fast enough, or not well enough. We try to delegate. We try to explain. It does not work the way we expect. And in the end we do everything ourselves again. Sometimes not because we must, but because it is not done our way.
And the main reason is not that we are so good at what we do. The truth is, we simply care too much about the outcome. About what will happen. We assume that if we do not step in, things will not be done properly, and sometimes will not happen at all. But should the responsibility always be ours? And is it possible that sometimes a failure is actually healthier for the whole system?
I see this every day. Personally, I am in a similar whirlpool, ferrying passengers from one shore to the other again and again. I take tasks that someone else should handle, simply because I can do them faster, or better. Or maybe more beautifully, at least by my own standards. Day after day, until eventually you reach that moment when you simply cannot continue anymore.
The problem is not that we hold the oars for too long. The problem is that we forget we are allowed to let them go. The moment comes when you realize that not everything can always be right and perfect. And maybe the real step forward is accepting things as they are. A person is still just a person, and people have limits.
And the fairy tale is The Three Golden Hairs of the Devil by the Brothers Grimm.
© 2026 Nikola Vasilev