The Sumurai Bowl

An old zen story has lots to say about creativity.

Once a master and his pupil were standing before the ocean. The master was holding a bowl filled with holes and asked the pupil to fill it with water from the ocean, but he was not allowed to cover the holes with his hands. The boy thought and thought, and tried a few things, but was unable to keep the water in the bowl.

Finally, he said, ‘This is impossible. It can’t be done!’

The master then threw the bowl into the ocean. After watching it sink to the bottom he said, ‘It is done despite what you thought.’

The story makes a number of points:

· Don’t make assumptions. Test your thinking and consider if you are constraining yourself unnecessarily.

· There is always an answer, but you may need to look at things differently.

· The answer may seem easy after the fact, but it is the leap you take to get you there that is the difficult part.

Can you think of any more? Think about it and please let me know.