The RockSoup story

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The war is finally over .... A soldier is on his way home. Having travelled some days and nights, hungry and tired, he reaches a small village. He knocks on many doors and asks for something to eat, but nobody wants to help him. The soldier then makes a fire and fills a pot with water. He places the pot on the fire. He picks up a stone and adds it to the pot. The villagers gather to see what is happening. The soldier takes a sip and says: "This is really good rock soup ... but there is something missing ... maybe an onion or two." One of the villagers responds: "I have some spare onions that you can use". The soldier gratefully accepts the onions and adds them to the pot. He takes another sip. "Ahh that is much better but there is still something missing .... maybe some potatoes". Another villager says: "I have a few spare potatoes for you". The soldier gratefully accepts the potatoes and adds them to the pot. He keeps suggesting new ingredients to improve the taste and the people keep adding to the pot until there is a thick soup in the pot. The soldier remarks: "There is too much food for me ... please join me". The whole village joined the soldier for some great rock soup.

Thank you for visiting my website.

"If it wasn't for that one day .........."

I am sure a story just formed in your head - maybe something that defines you and makes you the person that you are. Possibly a story that influences your actions and your relationships with others.

I firmly believe, from personal experience and years of observing others, that stories can and do change lives. This statement not only applies to individuals but also to organisations. Stories form and influence organisational culture.

That is why I subscribe to the RockSoup story and endeavour - on a daily basis - to apply the lessons from that story in my personal life and my training approach.

I am a freelance facilitator / lecturer / corporate trainer and course material content developer with more than 30 years experience - mainly in the fields of law, finance, banking, economics, sales, marketing, strategy and the soft skills. I also proactively build networks with likeminded individuals and organisations in order to both learn and teach.

I have trained at certificate, diploma, graduate and post-graduate level at various organisations:

* University of Johannesburg

* Damelin

* Millpark Business School

* Varsity College

* Global Business School

* Qatar Skills Academy

* Absa Bank

* Barclays Bank (Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique)

* First National Bank

* Nedbank

* Standard Bank

* National Bank of Ethiopia

* Academy of Financial Markets

* NoviaOne

* Institute of Bankers in South Africa

* Kaizen IMS

Andre van der Merwe

Contact

Corporate trainer
Learning material developer

Sincerity

Creating a statue is hard work and a small mistake could ruin the whole statue requiring the sculptor to possibly start all over. Some Roman sculptors used bees wax - coloured to look like the original marble - to cover any blemishes or errors. At first this was not visible to the buyer of the statue but eventually the wax would dry and possibly fall off to reveal the original blemish. Clients obviously did not appreciate this approach. Some Roman sculptors then started putting the words "sine cera" above the entrances to their studios where they worked. Sine (meaning without) and cera (meaning wax) would then confirm that they did not apply the practice of using wax to cover any possible errors or blemishes in their work.

Trust

The CEO of a successful company was growing old and ready to retire. He called a meeting of all the executives in his company and gave each of them a seed. He told them to plant the seed, water it, and to come back in 6 months. The results would then determine who the next CEO would be.

Frank, one of the executives, did exactly this. Although he cared for it very well, nothing happened. After a few weeks the other executives began to discuss how well their plants were growing but nothing happened to Fred's pot. Frank, however, didn’t say anything to his colleagues. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil.

Six months later all the executives brought their plants to the boardroom for inspection. Frank didn't want to take an empty pot… but his wife encouraged him to be honest about what happened. When Frank arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. When Frank quietly put his empty pot on the floor, many of his colleagues laughed.

The CEO arrived and commented on the beautiful variety of plants on display. Referring to Frank's empty pot, the CEO asked what had happened. Frank told him the story. The CEO pointed to Frank and announced Frank as the new CEO of the company.

The reason became obvious when the CEO told all present that the seed that he had given them at the beginning was in fact dead. It had been boiled in hot water for days making it impossible for any of the seed to grow at all. All the executives, except for Frank, replaced their seeds when they found it wouldn't grow. Frank was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring a pot with the original seed in it. Frank was the only one that could be trusted.

Optimism

Our local shopping mall is built on a slight slope requiring shoppers to use steps to go from one level to the next. The slope is not very acute and only a few steps - about 5 or 6 - are required to move from one level to the next. Separating the stairs and the ramp for trolleys and wheelchairs is a little wall that is - at its highest point - about half a meter from the ground.

When my daughter, Nicole, was young she use to walk on this little wall while holding my hand and then I had to catch her at the end. "Catch me daddy, catch me" followed by the most beautiful and happiest laugh when I did. The novelty of this eventually wore off - for me at least - and I started telling her not to walk on the wall since we were in a hurry or that I would catch her next time.

Then one day, no longer a child, she no longer wanted to walk on the wall. There was no longer a "catch me daddy, catch me". I then realised that at some stage I caught her from that little wall for the last time ... and I did not even know at the time that it was in fact the last time.

It is now many years later and I still visit our mall regularly. Those little walls still remind me every time that we should appreciate things while we have them and not to take anything for granted.

My daughter now has two children of her own - Casey and Mckenzie. They now walk on these little walls and fortunately i hear the words again "catch me grandpa, catch me". I catch them and appreciate being able to do so ... each and every team.

Nurturing

A farmer sent his son to learn the secret of happiness from a wise of men. The young man travelled far and long until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain where the wise man lived.

When the young man entered he saw a great deal of activity: merchants coming and going, many people talking to each other, a small orchestra playing music and a table with dishes from all over the world.

The wise man spoke to everybody, and the young man had to wait for some time for his turn. The wise man listened attentively to the reason for the young man's visit but told him that he couldn't explain to him the secret of happiness at that moment. He gave the young man a spoon, poured two drops of oil into the spoon and asked the young to stroll around the castle while holding the spoon and not allowing any of the oil to spill and then to return in two hours. The young man left keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon.

At the end of two hours he returned. "So," asked the wise man, "did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see my beautiful garden that took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful books in my library?" Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him. The wise man then told him "Go back and see the wonders of my world."

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the castle, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the flowers in the garden and all the beautiful furniture that decorated the place. Returning to the wise man, he reported in detail all that he had seen. "But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?" asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon, the young man realised that he had spilled the oil.

"Well, that is the only advice I have to give you," said the wise man. "The secret of happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon." Treasure both the big and the small things in life.

Ethics

Bobby Jones chose to remain an amateur golfer for his whole career. He did not want to turn professional because he never wanted golf to be more than a game.

Jones is probably best remembered for what happened in the first round of the 1925 US Open at the Worcester Country Club near Boston. His approach shot to the 11th hole fell short and his ball was lying in the deep rough. While getting ready to pitch onto the green, the head of his club touched the grass and caused a slight movement of the ball. After taking the shot he told his playing partner, Walter Hagen, and the match officials and called a penalty on himself in terms of rule 18 for moving a ball at rest.

Nobody had seen the incident. Walter Hagen and the officials tried to pursuade Bobby Jones otherwise but he insisted on calling the penalty resulting in a score of 77 instead of a 76 .... which would have won him the tournament. Instead, he drew with Wiliam Macfarlane resulting in a 36 hole playoff which Jones lost - denying him a record 5th US Open.

Many people praised Jones for his honesty. Jones was reported to have said "You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank. I do not know how else to play the game".

The RockSoup story

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Values - set in STONE