Many years ago in a small Chinese village, a farmer called Feng had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter Mei. As the farmer was unable to pay his debt the money lender proposed a bargain.
The money lender said he would forgo the debt if he could marry Feng’s beautiful daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
So the cunning old money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put two pebbles, one black and the other white into an empty money bag. Then Mei would have to pick out one of pebbles from the bag.
If Mei picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
But if she refused to pick any pebble, her father would be thrown into jail until his debt was repaid.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked Mei to pick a pebble from the bag.
pebbles 2
Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?
Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
Mei could refuse to take a pebble.
She could show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
Mei could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
Now take a moment to ponder the story… and the dilemma the young lady finds herself in.
The story is told here in the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The young woman’s dilemma cannot be solved with the usual logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses any of the above “logical” answers. Remember also in China that saving “face” is an important social custom.
What would you recommend that Mei do?
peterr @ park changchun 4
Hmmmmm…… interesting – Well, here is what she did ....
Mei put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble and without looking at it, she fumbled and dropped the pebble and it quickly fell onto the pebble-strewn path, where it was immediately lost among all the other pebbles.
Pebbles 3
“Oh, dear, how clumsy of me” Mei said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, then you will know which pebble I picked.”
Now, since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty in order to save face, the beautiful lady changed what seemed an impossible situation, into an extremely advantageous one just by doing some lateral thinking.
Moral of the Story:
Beauty and brains do go together…
And most complex problems do have a solution… It is only that we don’t attempt to think too hard about the solution and look instead, for the most obvious and logical answer. When with some lateral thinking we can achieve the outcome we want and everyone can ‘save face’.
Start your day with this thought provoking story and you need not to work HARD, just work SMART.
The money lender said he would forgo the debt if he could marry Feng’s beautiful daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.So the cunning old money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put two pebbles, one black and the other white into an empty money bag. Then Mei would have to pick out one of pebbles from the bag.
If Mei picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
But if she refused to pick any pebble, her father would be thrown into jail until his debt was repaid.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked Mei to pick a pebble from the bag.
pebbles 2
Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?
Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
Mei could refuse to take a pebble.
She could show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
Mei could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
Now take a moment to ponder the story… and the dilemma the young lady finds herself in.
The story is told here in the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The young woman’s dilemma cannot be solved with the usual logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses any of the above “logical” answers. Remember also in China that saving “face” is an important social custom.
What would you recommend that Mei do?
peterr @ park changchun 4
Hmmmmm…… interesting – Well, here is what she did ....
Mei put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble and without looking at it, she fumbled and dropped the pebble and it quickly fell onto the pebble-strewn path, where it was immediately lost among all the other pebbles.
Pebbles 3
“Oh, dear, how clumsy of me” Mei said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, then you will know which pebble I picked.”
Now, since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty in order to save face, the beautiful lady changed what seemed an impossible situation, into an extremely advantageous one just by doing some lateral thinking.
Moral of the Story:
Beauty and brains do go together…
And most complex problems do have a solution… It is only that we don’t attempt to think too hard about the solution and look instead, for the most obvious and logical answer. When with some lateral thinking we can achieve the outcome we want and everyone can ‘save face’.
Start your day with this thought provoking story and you need not to work HARD, just work SMART.
0 comments:
Post a Comment