Why You Should Never Be A $10,000 Parrot

Joost Minnaar
Written by Joost Minnaar January 22, 2022

In his book The Heart of Business, Hubert Joly, the former CEO of Best Buy, vividly describes the story of the $10,000 parrot. The story is too good not to share.

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The story goes like this:

The $100 parrot

A woman walks into a bird store and sees a parrot. "How much is this parrot?" she asks.

"A hundred dollars," says the store owner.

"This parrot is special: it can speak over a hunderd words, makes coffee, and reads the newspaper."

The $1,000 parrot

The customer nods and sees another parrot, which sells for a thousand dollars.

"That parrot," explains the store owner, "is even more special: it speaks five languages, makes a full breakfast, and delivers press briefings."

The $10,000 parrot

There is a third parrot, however.

When she asks how much that parrot costs, the customer is shocked to find out that it costs $10,000.

What could this parrot possibly do to justify such a premium?

"No one knows," the store owner replies.

"But the other two call it 'boss.'"

Moral of the story

Never be a $10,000 parrot. Don't be such a boss. Just don't.

Never be a $10,000 parrot. Don't be such a boss. Just don't.
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Written by Joost Minnaar
Joost Minnaar
Co-founder Corporate Rebels. My daily focus is on research, writing, and anything else related to making work more fun.
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