what happened to stone soup?

i mention this story to people, they don't seem to know wtf i'm talking about. back when i was a kid this was one of my favorites. i guess i didnt' realize it was about community dynamics, team motivation, talent management and indeed the entire business process in general.

i don't question that there are some extremely extremely small business that can be started completely on one's own: A florist, a little cookie shop, and of course all manner of art stringers like photogs.

but a :real: enterprise, the kind that generates milestone innovations...this almost always requires more than one human brain. in fact the more the better. amusingly, it appears in many cases to matter little specifically which brains they are. human brains are very adaptable and can reconfigure themselves to accomodate a given task in nanoseconds flat. every single one of them has something so powerful inside, it should be enough for 1,000 innovations...and even the small glimpses that make it out are priceless if you pay attention.

so this is what your people bring to the soup. a little salt, a little celery...we don't need much and everyone's liking the smell of the soup. everyone knows for sure that they are going to eat, and this breeds a communal feeling of warmth and comfort. the team knows the soup is the base of their community. they watch over it, "rear" it for all intents and purposes.

as individuals, they may have only a bit of salt or celery (or, like me, only a stone from the riverbank).

but as a part of the collective, as a founding member of the Family of the Soup, they have each other and their increasingly delicious soup.

it's really beautiful actually. i don't know why i hadn't paid more attention to it before.

nobody will work for you. ever. you know that, right?

people do not work for you, they work for themselves.
who do you work for? exactly.

every time you interface with someone you are making an exchange, an exchange of assets or other bargain being struck, whether we realize it or not. at your disposal is anything you have that they want, and of course there is something you want. don't get me wrong, what you want may be as simple as a few minutes enjoying their smile. or it might be the contribution of their talent to your project.

regardless of the type of arrangement sought, the formula remains the same: find the most equitable balance, that suits both parties best and you will have struck a deal. typically it's not hard to see what we want out of it, so the trick is simply understanding what your partner here wants. this should also be pretty easy cause most of the time they will tell you and all you have to do is listen. it's not though, haha. write a note to yourself about it. :)

i think my buddhism mentor may be an exception to this whole theory but probably not.

actually come to think of it there's nothing original here, this is all just regurgitated Behavioralism I probably read back in grade school. :)

so, nth is moving. somehow.
[you are in a maze of tunnels, all alike]

:sigh:

i just realized the ultimate theme song for entrepreneurs: 'the bitterist pill' by the jam haha

and is it just me or does everyone else move slooooooowwww mottttttiooonnnnnn?

:eyes narrow:
:low growl:
:poised for the kill:

who am i kidding. i'm hooked. :)