A tortoise and a hare argued about which was faster and agreed to race.
The hare trusted his natural speed so completely that he felt no urgency. He lay down beside the road and fell asleep. The tortoise knew he was slow, so he never stopped moving. He passed the sleeping hare and reached the finish first.
The tortoise did not become faster than the hare. He built a process that did not require him to be.
Source: Aesop, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” The Complete Fables, fable 352, PDF p. 294. Retold.
What it argues
Reliable effort can defeat superior capacity when capacity becomes an excuse for neglect. Consistency changes the contest.
Use it for: discipline, practice, talent, compounding, and execution.