Making Soup from Stones
Making Soup from Stones
Many years ago, three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering after a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning their lack of anything to eat.
The soldiers spoke quietly amongst themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders and said. "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones."
Naturally, the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle and the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. "Now this will be a fine soup," said the second soldier; "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "I know where there is some parsley!" and left. Off she ran, returning minutes later with an apron full of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village steadily improved; soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast.
They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning, the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. "You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones," said an elder, "and we shall never forget." The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast." And off the soldiers wandered, down the road.
Reading this story reminded me of the times when I really enjoyed working together with others and I recognized that there was always an element of openness and sharing that led to creativity and joy at the same time. We worked well as a group or team when we had the ability to remove the biggest roadblock - the 'Fear Factor'. And I have found this to be the key for compassionate, effective and inspiring communication ever since and, this is something that can be learned.
With my best wishes for creative teamwork.
Christiane
Making Soup from Stones - To learn more about this author, visit Christiane Pohl's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Last month I came across this beautiful story, which I feel is about taking the lead and recognising and understanding people's fears. By being creative when faced with challenges we can help others shift perception. Often, that is all that is needed for finding inspiring solutions and together enjoying the process. So, once upon a time.....
Many years ago, three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering after a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning their lack of anything to eat.
The soldiers spoke quietly amongst themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders and said. "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones."
Naturally, the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle and the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. "Now this will be a fine soup," said the second soldier; "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "I know where there is some parsley!" and left. Off she ran, returning minutes later with an apron full of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village steadily improved; soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast.
They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning, the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. "You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones," said an elder, "and we shall never forget." The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast." And off the soldiers wandered, down the road.
Reading this story reminded me of the times when I really enjoyed working together with others and I recognized that there was always an element of openness and sharing that led to creativity and joy at the same time. We worked well as a group or team when we had the ability to remove the biggest roadblock - the 'Fear Factor'. And I have found this to be the key for compassionate, effective and inspiring communication ever since and, this is something that can be learned.
With my best wishes for creative teamwork.
Christiane
Making Soup from Stones - To learn more about this author, visit Christiane Pohl's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Christiane's articles
 |
|
Making a Difference....together - Life and Leadership coaching specializing in Stress Management to help you lead the life of your choice filled with purpose and success. For more details on how I work take a look at my website www.christianepohl.com
|
|
 |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Marketing ScoreCard Recession Proof Instant Direct Mail Future Networking Intentional Leadership Integrity |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
 |
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||