A father left 17 camels as an asset to his
three sons.
When the father passed away, his sons read
his Will. The Will stated that the eldest son should get half of the
total camels, while the middle son should be given one-third, and the youngest
son should be given one-ninth of the total camels.
As it was not possible to divide 17 into
half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, and the three sons started to fight with each
other. They then decided to go to a wise man. The wise man read the Will
patiently. After giving it due thought, he brought one camel of his own and added
it to the 17 camels. That increased the total to 18 camels.
Then 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.
Now add this up: 9 + 6 + 2= 17. That
leaves one camel, which the wise man took back.
Moral of the story: 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 18th camel 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 any!
- Author Unknown
