The attitude of negotiation and problem solving!

byHarenJoshi

576 followers

3 years ago

Wise man with problem-solving skills!

A father left 17 gold coins as assets for his three sons. When the father passed away, his sons opened up the will. The father's will stated that the eldest son should get half of the 17 coins; the middle son should be given 1/3rd of the 17 coins, and the youngest son should be given 1/9th of the 17 coins.

As it was impossible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3, or 17 by 9, the sons started to fight each other. So, they decided to go to a wise man who lives in a cave.

The wise man listened patiently about the Will. The wise man, after giving this thought, brought one coin of his own and added the same to 17. That increased the total to 18 coins.

Now, he started reading the deceased father’s Will.

Half of 18 = 9.

So he gave 9 coins to the eldest son.

1/3rd of 18 = 6.

So he gave 6 coins to the middle son.

1/9th of 18 = 2.

So he gave 2 coins to the youngest son.

Now add this up: 9 + 6 + 2 = 17

This leaves 1 coin, which the wise man took back.

Moral: The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th coin, i.e., the common ground. Once a person is able to find the common ground, the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times. However, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach anywhere.

A very interesting management lesson.

Hope you all, like it.