His boss explained that, although Carl was not the most diligent employee, he had excellent communication skills and he was a natural leader. In meetings, Carl was outspoken, while Roger kept quiet. Carl had made friends with everyone in the department, while Roger was too busy with his work. Roger’s way of working hard and keeping quiet may have been suitable for school and university, but it was not suited to the office environment.

Roger's boss pointed out that he was eligible to sign up for up to three training courses per year, yet he had never taken the opportunity to improve himself. Roger had always assumed that once he had graduated, his days of formal learning were over. He had not realized that you need to continue learning and improving yourself all throughout your career.

Roger finally realized that if he wanted to be successful, he would need to dramatically change his ways.