Soup, Swamps, & Solutions

Dear Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Dreamers, and Creators of Great Things: I write these Love Letters each month with the hope of bringing you a little encouragement, some marketing help, and a few minutes of joy. Whether we are already friends or have yet to meet, I hope you’ll enjoy my stories from the road and some awesomely random takeaways, tools, tips, and updates.

It’s soup season

As the story goes, one day a boy walks into a village. He’s hungry, but he only has a single stone in his pocket. He asks the villagers if they could spare some food, but door after door shuts in his face. No one has enough to share. What little they have is for themselves.

So the boy stands in the village square and announces that he has a magic stone that will make soup for everyone. He only needs a big pot of water and a fire to cook over. The villagers are curious, so they bring him what he needs.

The boy begins by heating the water and dropping in the magic stone. As the water steams, he sips thoughtfully and announces that it’s coming along nicely, but could use some salt and pepper. A villager offers to bring some, and it is added to the pot. A bit of stirring later, the boy says that the magic soup will soon be ready, but it could really use a bit of carrot. Another villager says they have a carrot or two they could probably share, and in it goes.

More time. More stirring. More declaring that it’s starting to taste delicious. But, it could maybe use a potato or a few onions. Another villager decides they might have a few of those that they could contribute. After a bit of sipping, the boy muses that if they only had a ham bone, the soup would be nearly perfect. As it turns out, a villager just happens to have one they were saving.

When it’s all said and done, the soup is delicious, there is enough that every villager eats their fill, and they all marvel at the magic stone that miraculously made soup appear. The boy generously announces that he will leave them the magic stone so they might always have enough soup to go around, and with a full belly, he heads out of town. As he goes, he slips a small stone from the roadway into his pocket.

Stone Soup isn’t just a delightful children’s story or fable; it’s a reminder to all of us that we have choices when things get tough. We can hoard our carrots and shut our doors, or we can come together and share what we have.

For all of us running businesses and serving people right now, let’s keep looking for ways to make soup.

Three tiny stories

My town council met last month and were presented with a plan for a new development. They developers had gone to great lengths to propose a housing community that would be affordable to the median income of people in my small town. They were taking 30 acres of land that is currently a swampy mess and making it a tidy, walkable neighborhood. But my town council members denied their proposal, because the neighborhood wasn’t “high end” enough. They said they want to attract a “different kind of buyer” than the developer intended. So they sent the developer away and told him to come back with a plan that was more “high end.” But they 30 acres needs extensive drainage work and the developer cannot do that work, add the amenities the council wants, and make the properties affordable. So the land will go undeveloped and 50+ homes that would have been perfect for first time buyers will not be built.
Go to your town council meetings, friends.
Show up. Speak out. It’s the only way we’ll make change happen.

*****
I was inspired by a speaker at a recent event to come up with 5 things that bring me joy. Then she challenged us to intentionally incorporate one of those into our lives this coming week. Such a simple assignment… and yet, I realized I very rarely am intentional about it. It it happens, yay! But if it doesn’t, well, I’m just too busy. So I am making it a goal for the next month. Intentionally making a list each week and incorporating one thing that brings joy. Join me?

*****
I’ve been talking a lot about curiosity lately. You know, that attribute we have in spades as children then somehow lose as we grow up? Turns out, curiosity is not only the antidote for perfectionism, it’s also one of the best tools we have to reduce workplace conflict, improve teamwork, and solve problems faster. A Harvard study found that the habit of adding two tiny words to our conversations can add the benefits of curiosity to our work. Those two words are “What if?”  So, the next time you find yourself stuck in a rut or struggling with a tough client or situation, look for ways to ask, “what if?” It might just change everything.

This is where I share the good stuff

… the latest websites, books, & tools that are inspiring me, the people who are making me smile, and the stuff I have been writing on sticky notes.

• Are you a data nerd? (I am.) I love going down a good rabbit hole about how humans think, learn, buy, and behave. If you are too, check out Datos. They have a ton of super interesting studies and reports on topic like AI, Marketing, Finance, and Market Research.
• Are you feeling a little overwhelmed and powerless about the state of the world lately? Read this. I insist.
• The quote I wrote on a sticky note and put on my computer monitor this week:
  “The dominant culture of the world teaches us that The Other is a threat, that our fellow human beings are a danger. We will all continue to be exiles from one another as long as we continue to accept the paradigm that the world is a racetrack or a battlefield.” ~ Eduardo Galeano
• Someone gifted me a copy of the book The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin last week and I am obsessed. If you educate people or serve humans, you should read it.
• Hey, my book was featured in this list from Bookshop dot org! If you are looking to spend less money on Amazon and want to support local book sellers, Bookshop is the best place to start!

 

Speaking of books… have you bought my book yet?
If not – what the heck are you waiting for?  You can find the links here.  If you have ordered it – thank you! Also, please take a few minutes to leave a review on the site you ordered from. It means the world to me, so thank you!