At my work place, there was a chance for a promotion between myself and five other employees. We all thought we had a strong case for getting promoted, and our boss couldn’t decide which of us deserved it more. It’s rare that you see so may people who are qualified without much distinction between them. Our boss decided to solve the problem by having an event. We took a trip to a shooting range where they had corporate shooting days in Bristol, and started a competition among the promotion candidates. The employee who would hit the most targets would get the promotion.
The idea that our boss would decide a promotion with a shooting competition was a big shock to us. None of us knew how to shoot, so I guess we were all on an even playing field, but that just meant that most of our hits would result from beginners luck.
I wish our boss had just made a decision without the competition, but there was nothing we could do to stop him. We either had to participate in the hopes of getting the promotion, or not participate and automatically eliminate ourselves from the promotion.
During the competition, I just tried to do my best. I thought about every shooting video game that I had ever played in the arcades and at home, and hoped that I would at least be able to hit just one target. My first shot was a miss, as was my next one. By my third shot, I was able to finally hit a target. Each employee was allowed to shoot at 20 targets, and I was able to hit 11. Miraculously, I hit more than the other employees and got the promotion, just barely making it past an employee who shot 10 targets.
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