40+FAB Blog

Have you ever heard the story of the stone soup? There are many variations of it, but the general gist of it goes like this;

Some travellers came to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. Then the travellers went to a stream and filled the pot with water and a large stone then placed it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asked what they were doing. They answered, “we are making stone soup, which tastes wonderful and would be delighted to share with you, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, to improve the flavour.”

The villager anticipated enjoying a share of the soup, so did not mind parting with a few carrots which were added to the soup. Another villager walked by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mentioned their stone soup which had not yet reached its full potential. The villager handed them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walked by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) was removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup was enjoyed by travellers and villagers alike.

The one that has the ability to create anticipation will be able to garner resources and galvanise people to produce something great out of seemingly nothing. Where do you need to add anticipation to your strategy? Give it some thought and go back with the power of anticipation where doors have previously been shut.