Leadership

The Crow and the Pitcher

By Ron Pereira Updated on January 13th, 2011

crow-and-pitcher.jpgHere’s a neat story credited to Aesop. It’s found in the 2nd century AD Greek fable collection by pseudo-Dositheus. 

That sets the scene far more eloquently than me explaining how I came across the story in one of my kid’s story time books called “The Aesop for Children.”

In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it.

But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.

Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.

When you are faced with difficulty this week please ask yourself, “How can I use my wits to solve this problem?”

You see, your wits are perhaps the most powerful continuous improvement tool you have. Don’t be afraid to use them.

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