Teamwork story: The Stone soup effect

Once upon a time, there was a wise old man who lived his life on the road. Sometimes he would travel for days without meeting anyone, and other times he would have company. Most of all he loved visiting new places and meeting new people. In his lifetime he had seen many things, meet many people, and found himself in different situations. All of which enriched him with many experiences and wisdom. One day the old man came to a small village he had never been to before. Near the center of the village, he met a group of people. So he introduced himself. “I’m a simple traveler, looking for a hot meal and a safe place to sleep,” The villagers humbly replied, “We’d be glad to offer you a place to sleep, but we have very little food. Our crops were very poor this year, and there’s not much to eat in the whole village. Most of us are just barely getting by with what we have for ourselves.” “I’m sorry to hear that,” said the traveler. “But you don’t need to worry about giving me any food. I already have everything I need. In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you. All I need is a large soup pot, some wood for the fire, and some water.”

“Stone soup? What’s that? We’ve never heard of stone soup. You can’t cook stone and get soup… or can you,” the villagers looked amazed at the old man. “Oh, it’s wonderful,” said the old man. “Best soup I’ve ever tasted. If…