The Frog in the Mug
One sultry afternoon, my manager came to my desk and sat in the empty chair in front of me. He had just come out of a long strategy meeting with the leadership team. He looked very hassled, as the body language indicated he was unhappy. After taking a sip of water from the bottle on my table, he quickly commented: ‘I have become a frog in the mug.’
He was hired into the organisation with much fanfare, considering his exceptional contributions to the industry. New business words like ‘out of the box’, ‘creative thinking’ and ‘innovation’ were familiar to him. Japanese methods such as Poka-Yoke, SMED, Kaizen and JIT were state of the art, and he was an expert in implementation.
The frog in the well: I have heard the above proverb from my parents, teachers, colleagues and managers in different versions and formats. This Japanese proverb is said to have come from a Chinese fable attributed to philosopher Zhuang Zhou, who lived around the 4th century BC.
I remember playing a game around a campfire with a few colleagues at an off-site event. While the group exercise started as a storytelling session, all the participants got emotional, poured out their thoughts, and shared their personal stories about the proverb. The session ended as an emotional drama.
Once upon a time, a frog lived at the bottom of a well. The well was the frog’s whole world until the day the well ran dry; the bugs began to disappear. What was happening to the world, the frog wondered, and what could he do? The hungry frog decided to hop to the top of the well to see what he could of the world’s end. Conquering his fear, he peered out, and what did he see? Trees, flowers, meadows, marshes, and all kinds of end-of-the-world creatures! Entranced, the little frog ventured to discover more about the world outside his own. I saw a skit played with some variation by small children on stage with a well as a backdrop and the little children dressed as frogs and worms inside the well.
My manager’s comment is a metaphor to indicate the state of being: the noose becomes tighter and tighter, and the space becomes smaller and smaller — well becomes a pond, a bucket, and gradually, a mug. Why ‘mug’?
I was in a similar state several times in my life. Whenever I felt choked in my professional or personal life, I found a way out, like the frog in the story. When I sensed the occurrence of the state, I jumped like a frog and conquered fear. A robust internal resolve or an external catalyst helped me to get out. Many mentors were the catalysts. Joseph Campbell’s ‘ The Hero’s journey’ always was very apt, and I saw a better world and space. My friends have similar life stories — every story is personal and unique.
I have not seen a frog in decades. In my village, these amphibians in dozens appeared in different shapes and sizes from nowhere under the rocks, in the ponds and the wells, making unique sounds. Each frog made a different cracking sound indicating the change of seasons. The unbelievable jumps to catch the worms always surprised me. I collected tiny frogs, kept them in matchboxes, and exchanged them with my friends. While my friends hated the skin texture and the looks, I loved the colours and the construct.
A frog represents wealth, abundance, ancient wisdom, rebirth, and good luck, as per our ancient wisdom, and a frog can quickly switch between land and water. The frog is an excellent example of fortitude, patience and survival instinct.
