There once was an elderly man in the Middle East, who felt his end was near.
He made up his will leaving his main assets (17 camels) to his three sons.
To the first son, he left half of the camels.
The second son was left with a third of the camels, and the youngest son got a ninth of the camels.
After the death of the elderly man, the three sons started talking and thinking; 17 doesn’t divide by two, three or nine. How to solve this?
After days of contemplating, the 3 sons decided to go to the wise man in the village to find a solution.
The wise man asked the 3 sons to bring all 17 camels to him.
When the 3 sons arrived at the wise man’s place, the wise man had brought his own camel. This made the total 18 camels.
Suddenly, the will could be honored:
The first son took his part; half of 18 is nine. The second son took his piece; a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth; a ninth of 18 is two.
The total of camels over the 3 sons adds up to 17.
There was one camel left, which was given back to the wise man.
What is the 18th camel in your story?
So what is my take-away of this going forward?
This story illustrates that there is a solution to every problem, if you are willing to find the 18th camel: the common ground. Sometimes it might be hard to see a solution, it might require more time or a different perspective. In all cases, the first step to a solution is to believe in it. Once the belief in a solution has developed, the actual solution will emerge.
Photo by Kevin Bluer on Unsplash
There once was an elderly man in the Middle East, who felt his end was near.
He made up his will leaving his main assets (17 camels) to his three sons.
To the first son, he left half of the camels.
The second son was left with a third of the camels, and the youngest son got a ninth of the camels.
After the death of the elderly man, the three sons started talking and thinking; 17 doesn’t divide by two, three or nine. How to solve this?
After days of contemplating, the 3 sons decided to go to the wise man in the village to find a solution.
The wise man asked the 3 sons to bring all 17 camels to him.
When the 3 sons arrived at the wise man’s place, the wise man had brought his own camel. This made the total 18 camels.
Suddenly, the will could be honored:
The first son took his part; half of 18 is nine. The second son took his piece; a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth; a ninth of 18 is two.
The total of camels over the 3 sons adds up to 17.
There was one camel left, which was given back to the wise man.
What is the 18th camel in your story?
So what is my take-away of this going forward?
This story illustrates that there is a solution to every problem, if you are willing to find the 18th camel: the common ground. Sometimes it might be hard to see a solution, it might require more time or a different perspective. In all cases, the first step to a solution is to believe in it. Once the belief in a solution has developed, the actual solution will emerge.
Photo by Kevin Bluer on Unsplash
