28/04/2013
A man died and left 17 camels as assets for his three sons.
When the father passed away, his sons opened up the will.
The Will of the father stated that the eldest son should get half of the camels while the
middle son should be given 1/3rd (one-third). The youngest son should be given 1/9th
(one-ninth) of the camels.
As it was not possible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, the three sons started
to fight with each other.
The three sons then came to me. I patiently listened to them.
Then, I brought one camel of my own and added the same to their 17.
That increased the total to 18 camels. Now, I started reading the deceased father’s will.
Half of 18 = 9. So I gave the eldest son 9 camels, 1/3rd of 18 = 6. So I gave the middle
son 6 camels, 1/9th of 18 = 2. So I gave the youngest son 2 camels.
Now add this up: 9 plus 6 plus 2 is 17 and this leaves one camel, which I took back.
This is what life is all about.
The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th camel (i.e. the
common ground). Once a person is able to find that, any issue can be easly resolved.
To reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that
there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any !!!