I came across the title of this article from famed futurist Peter Diamandis, and it caught my attention. The title is: “The Stone Soup Story.” The question I asked immediately was, “why would a futurist write something of this sort using a children’s story to present a lesson?” Let me share his article with you (with a bit of commentary from me), and I will let you see the wisdom behind the story.
Once upon a time, a farmer spotted three soldiers at the edge of town in a tiny medieval village.
Knowing what would likely happen next, he ran into the marketplace shouting a warning to his fellow villagers: “Quick, close the doors, lock the windows! Three hungry soldiers are coming, and they’ll take away all our food.”
The soldiers were, in fact, hungry.
When they entered the village, they started knocking on doors, asking for something to eat.
The first villager told them that his cupboards were bare. The second villager told them the same. The next door didn’t even open.
Finally, one of the starving soldiers had a brilliant thought and proposed to everyone at the top of his voice, “I have an idea — let’s make stone soup!”
With that, he knocked on yet another door. “Excuse me,” he said to the villager, “do you have a cauldron and some firewood? We want to make some stone soup. Now you can claim that you do not have food, but it would not be wise to claim that you do not have the cooking utensils. Right?”
The villager, thinking there’s no risk, said, “Soup from stones? This I’ve got to see. Sure, I’ll help.” So she gave the soldiers a cauldron and some firewood, while another villager fetched three rocks and some water.
As they brought the water to a boil in a pot with three large stones, the news spread quickly through the town, and the villagers began to gather. “Soup from stones,” they said. “This we have to see. I had no idea you could make soup from stones.”
“Sure can,” replied the soldiers.
Eventually, tired of standing around, another villager asked, “Can I help?”
“Perhaps,” says a soldier, “if you had a few potatoes to spare, that would make the stone soup even better.”
The villager quickly fetched some potatoes and added them to the pot of simmering stones.
Another piped up with the same question, “How can I help?”
“Well, a dozen carrots would sure make the soup even better.” The villager ran off and fetched some carrots. Soon others were adding poultry, barley, garlic, and leeks.
After a while, one of the soldiers called out, “It’s done,” and shared the soup with everyone to taste and enjoy.
The villagers were overheard saying, “Wow! Soup from stones! It tastes fantastic. I had no idea...” End of story.
Diamandis then explained that this story is a metaphor for entrepreneurs and leaders. Making stone soup is the only way an entrepreneur can succeed at creating something big and bold from nothing.
The stones are your passion, your labor, and your big, bold idea. The villagers’ contributions are the capital, resources, and intellectual support from investors and strategic partners.
Everyone who adds a small amount to your stone soup is helping to make your dream come true.
“The most important part of making stone soup is your passion. People love passion. They love to contribute to projects that are fueled by passion. And you can’t fake it.” Diamandis says, and then he continues with this very provocative statement: “Our BS detectors are great at spotting the inauthentic player: the carnival barker, the used car salesman, the disingenuous politician.”
Passionate people are deeply creative in seeking out and pulling in the resources they need to pursue their passion, but it goes further than that. “People who pursue their passions inevitably create beacons that attract others who share their vision,” said Hagel. “Few of these beacons are consciously created; they are byproducts of pursuing one’s passion. Passionate people share their creations widely, leaving tracks for others to find them.”
The pandemic has visibly shown and convinced us of the need to collaborate, borrow, and share resources, and it also showed us that it is hard to succeed on our own. Marge Kennedy says: “Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its characteristics, and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.” Yes, Even if it comes from stones.
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