John a woodcutter worked for a company for five years but never got a raise. The company hired Bill and within two years he got raise. This caused resentment. John went to his boss and asked "I've been here five years and never got a raise and Bill, within two years, got a raise. How come?" The Boss said, "We are a result-oriented company and would be happy to give you a raise if your output went up." John went back, started hitting harder and putting in  more time but he still wasn't able to cut more trees. john thought to himself, "let me go find out from Bill how his output went up. Maybe he knows something more than I do." Upon asking, Bill answered, After cutting every tree, I take a break for two minutes and sharpen my axe. When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" John said, "Oh oh, five years ago!"

"if you give me 6 hours to chop down a tree i shall spend 4 hours to sharpen the axe"   -Abraham Lincoln