Coaching with the Brain in Mind

CHAPTER 13

Bedrock—Management

The story is told in many forms in many cultures. In some versions, it represents the difference between heaven and hell. In others, it is a warning about greed and thinking only of oneself. It can also be seen as indicating the necessity for people to work together:

A traveler arrives in a strange land and, being hungry, follows the smell of something cooking. She is surprised to pass people on the path who seem to be on starvation’s door. Emaciated and miserable, they reach out to her with withered hands and arms, but she has nothing to give them. She enters a great hall and there in the middle of the room is a huge cauldron full of delicious-looking stew, where the wonderful smells are coming from. But the only utensils available are spoons with handles too long for anyone to put the stew in their mouths. Although there is food aplenty, no one can eat. Seeing this misery, the traveler runs from the hall, determined to leave this land. But in the very next village, the same smell attracts her again. She is even hungrier now, so she risks taking the path to a hall that looks identical to the one she had just left. But there is no sign of starvation here. Cherry-cheeked people are strolling to and from the entrance. When the traveler enters the hall, she sees the same cauldron with the same delicious-looking stew and the same long-handled spoons. But there the similarity ends. In this hall, every person dips in a spoon and feeds the stew to a neighbor. ...