Enjoy one of the most inspirational stories I know, first told to me at a team building event, and never forgotten.
Many centuries ago somewhere in Africa
A man died leaving 3 sons behind him. The only thing this man had in life was 17 camels. He left half those camels to his eldest son, one third to his middle son, and one 9th to his youngest son.
You don’t need me to tell you that half of 17 is 8.5; one third of 17 is 5.04; and one 9th of 17 is 1.8 camels. Okay I admit I needed a calculator to tell me.
Can you imagine the ruckus in the village? The boys were fighting. The oldest was saying it didn’t make sense to cut up a perfectly healthy and useful camel, so he may as well have 9. The middle son suggested just 8, the youngest son tried to run away with all the camels and was caught and dragged back to face the music. It was carnage with very bad language.
In the end the eldest son said that he would ride to the next village to ask the wise man there for help. Having nailed the harness of each camel to a wooden post, and hired armed guards to keep his brothers away, he duly rode off to try to find a solution.
Enter Gertie
Our darling Gertie was happily munching on the last blade of grass in her village, having gently shoved another camel into the river in order to stake her claim, when there was the sound of flying camel hooves and desperate shoutings for help.
“Oh Lord” she thought “what has some human numpty done now and exactly how far am I going to have to ride with that stupid wise man on my back this time?” She meant that lovingly, helping was in her nature.
To be clear the wise man isn’t stupid and this is only a very lazy camel’s opinion.
The oldest son jumped from his camel, okay he slipped off the saddle and landed upside down in a pile of camel dung, which amused Gertie enormously, and not even stopping to hurl himself in the river to get rid of the stench, he ran towards to wise man’s hut.
The wise man was also a very kind man, and he ran out to meet the poor tortured soul calling so pitifully for his help. Standing a good way off with a handkerchief over his nose, he enquired what was causing the dear soul so much distress.
The young man repeated his terrible story, then stood sagging and trying not to breathe too deeply, whilst waiting for the wise man to solve this impossible problem.
A smile lit the wise man’s face! Gertie quivered inside. He could solve the problem, this was not good news. The wise man was slightly on the chubby side, given to screaming ‘Go faster Gert’, a version of her name she hated, not only in a very loud voice, but approximately every fifteen seconds. It was very annoying, but you couldn’t throw the hand that feeds you over a cliff, it just wasn’t sensible.
Telling the young man to throw himself bodily in the river and come out smelling less putrid, the wise man leapt onto Gertie’s back and took off for the neighbouring village. Sadly he went in the wrong direction and three hours later, after Gertie had flat out refused to take one more step and had to turn her back on him and stare broodingly in the right direction until the genius got the message, he let her lead the right way at a deliberately relaxed pace, they arrived to find the village in uproar.
The three warring brothers were laying exhausted in a pool of mud. The 17 camels were praying for deliverance, the bookies were having a field day, and the village women had made a fortune cooking snacks and selling them to the gathered crowds. When the wise man dismounted (fell off) Gertie, they gathered around him to find out exactly how wise he was and pick his pockets. He couldn’t be that wise, they thought, as clearly he was as poor as a church mouse with a very tatty looking camel. Camels can read minds and being covered in camel spit is not a pleasant experience.
The crowed backed away giving the wise man space to be wise. Which was when poor Gertie’s life fell apart. Her heart was broken. A tear trembled at the corner of her eye! The wise man gave the boys Gertie. Now they had 18 camels.
The problem was solved! And then to her shock the wise man mounted Gertie and they rode home.
The solution
You probably also don’t need me to tell you, but it might ruin the story if people are as bad at maths as I am – hence the calculator – that:
- One half of 18 is 9
- One third of 18 is 6
- One 9th of 18 is 2
Nice round numbers.
You see, Gertie didn’t know, and I didn’t know, and the entire village didn’t know, that if you add:
9 + 6 + 2 it equals 17
The moral of the story
Sometimes we need something more, some knowledge we didn’t know we didn’t have, in order to not just solve a problem, but maybe improve the solution out of sight. Sometimes the bits you dismiss can be made into a whole other element.
That’s why the right team, or having the right people in your corner, is so important.
Deb xx
Deb Hawken - Amorah 