A father left
17 camels as an asset for his three sons. When the father passed away, his sons
opened up the will. The Will stated that the eldest son should get half of 17
camels while the middle son should be given 1/3rd (one-third). The youngest son
should be given 1/9th (one-ninth) of the 17 camels.
As it is not possible
to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, three sons started to fight with
each other. Later, the three sons decided to go visit a wise man. The wise man
listened patiently about the Will, and after giving it some thought, he brought
one camel of his own and added it to the 17 camels. That increased the total to
18 camels.
Now, he started reading the deceased father’s will. Half of 18
= 9. So he gave the eldest son 9 camels 1/3rd of 18 = 6. So he gave the middle
son 6 camels 1/9th of 18 = 2. So he gave the youngest son 2 camels. Adding this
up: 9 plus 6 plus 2 is 17 and this left one camel, which the wise man took
back.
LESSON:
The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is
to find the 18th camel i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the
common ground, the issue is resolved. It may take a difficult process, but it
will eventually be solved.
Morals of the Story :
1. The first
step to breakthrough is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that
there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any!
2. Be your own
version of an optimist. Believing in yourself is more important than people
believing in you.
3. If you can't make it through one door, go through
another door, or better still, you make a door for
yourself!
