Businesses all over the world are trying to figure out how to make the legendary teamwork found in Stone Soup happen in their business. If only the business leaders could get everyone to put in just a little bit, all could be happier and more successful!
They're missing the secret I've found in the soup.
Stone Soup does have a wonderful heart-warming story of how some travelers start a big pot of soup during a famine such as what happens during war. All the visitors have is water, fire, and the magical stone that gets all the attention. They stir and stir, then start whiffing at the "smell" of boiling stone soup. Yum! They exclaim. If only there were some cabbage, and someone shows up with a little cabbage, hoping to share the stone soup. Yum! If only there were salt pork. Someone shows up with the salt pork and the story goes on with a normal delicious soup recipe (minus the stone). Everyone enjoys an abundant meal and the townsfolk offer to buy the stone. The answer is no, and the travelers leave the town.
It is really quite a brilliant story. Everyone puts in a little and everyone gets a lot.
What did the original visitor bring to the soup, though? Yes, they brought work by gathering the firewood. They brought water from the town well, which is more work. They brought a stone, but what is the stone, really? What metaphor is the author trying to convey to us all? That is the true secret of this story.
The stone is dull. It's unremarkable in every way. So, why does it get all the attention and why wouldn't the original owner sell it? (S)He had convinced the townsfolk that it had magic, and it would be an easy thing to take them for a ride, then skip town before they realized what reality was.
Here's the secret to the stone.
Intention
I can hear your thoughts now: What? Intention? That's Law of Attraction stuff! I can't use that in my business!That's just all wishful thinking and lots of hoping. You can't take wishes to the bank.
Now, you're ready to hear how to apply the secret.
To gather people to you who will create the vision you intend , you must first have the vision and believe it will happen so you can share it with those who gather. Let me put it more succinctly: See the end, then start.
You won't need to demand your employees work together. They will automatically come forward with the next piece of the puzzle to make what you're seeing real. You can smell that soup and wouldn't it be grand if you only had some carrots? You can see your business as brilliantly successful and in demand if only you had some _____. Let your employees fill in the blank! Your business will grow by leaps and bounds the more you let your experts show you what to do next in order to fulfill your vision.
