Once Upon a Business – Episode 86
The Apple Tree and the Rosebush
Lisa Bloom: An apple tree and a rosebush once grew next to each other in a garden. When summer came, the rosebush was always boasting of her beauty. No one is as beautiful as me, she said. You may be larger, but I give people so much pleasure. I’m clearly the most important one.
Hi, I’m Lisa Bloom, the Story Coach. And you’re listening to Once Upon a Business. In each episode, we explore a story, a fairy tale, folktale, or traditional story so that we can discover the amazing lessons relevant for business and for entrepreneurs.
My friend, said the apple tree to the rose bush, beauty is one thing, but kind heartedness is another. What do you mean, said the rosebush? Nothing can be more important than what I give people. We shall see, replied the apple tree. When autumn came, large apples ripened under apple trees boughs. One day, the group of children passing by on the road spied the fruit. Into the garden they tumbled. One of them picked up a stone and threw it at an apple. It missed, but hitting a branch shook the tree.
At this, many apples fell to the ground. The children picked them up and ran off. Another child, noticing the rosebush, went to pick a flower and pricked her finger on a thorn. When they had gone, the apple tree turned to the rosebush. Now do you understand? When someone wants one of your flowers, they prick themselves. But I give away my apples even to those who throw stones at me.
This is a tale from Ashley Ramsden in The Storyteller’s Way. I have to say that I didn’t like this story very much at first. But that’s always a reason for me to dig deeper and understand. And I think it’s worth a dive into the story because the lessons are rich and the nuance important as it relates to what we do in business. The thematic thread is common in stories. Two similar entities compare each other to prove who’s best, who’s more liked, and more useful in the world.
This in itself is such a powerful starting point of the story, as so many business owners and people in general tend to get stuck in a place of comparison. Is my business more successful than theirs? Is my offer or service better than yours? Do I have more followers? Do I have more market share? The story starts with the rosebush telling the apple tree. You may be bigger, but I give people so much more pleasure.
We all know comparison is a terrible place to live. You can never win, and all it serves to do is make you feel small and bitter.
Isn’t it time to try to move away from making your value contingent on someone else’s? The apple tree compares beauty with kind heartedness, and that’s a different kind of comparison which speaks to our values, what we actually stand for, and this I can relate to.
I remember as a young teenager, there was this boy I really liked. He seemed to be smitten with another girl, who I remember nothing about except that she wore a gorgeous flowing white dress. For years, I wanted a white dress just like that, and felt so inadequate that whatever I wore just couldn’t be as elegant as her dress. I realized at some stage that that very same girl was not very nice, beautiful, but not kind at all, quite mean actually. And to be honest, if I had thought about my kindheartedness versus her beauty, it wouldn’t have helped at all. I wanted her beauty more than anything.
As an adult, I can see the value of kindheartedness, and especially in business. I’ve known businesses that have beautiful products, gorgeous marketing, but are not good quality and certainly not kind to their clients. Personally, I would rather go for kindness. And that leads me to the children. Why would they throw a stone at the apple and then be rewarded by all the falling apples? It seems so unfair. When the child who tried to gently pick the rose got pricked by the thorn.
Well, I suppose it does teach that kindness and generosity should have no conditions. Still, the apple tree has very little humility as she gives away her apples even when they throw stones at her. So it’s confusing. Generous, but arrogant. Beautiful, but proud. Maybe the only lesson is to notice the conflicting attitudes and behavior in others, but more importantly, in ourselves. Beauty, generosity, kind heartedness, pride. They can have value. And they can be a trap. Perhaps it’s about making sure that we do have values in business and we find ways to articulate them and live by them so that we can be a little less conscious of how others behave and a little more aware of how we ourselves show up.
I’m Lisa Bloom, and you’ve been listening to Once Upon a Business. You can find out more about me at story-coach.com. That’s story-coach.com. Once Upon a Business is part of the Mirasee FM podcast network, which also includes such shows as Consciousness Explored and Just Between Coaches. To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Once Upon a Business, please like and follow us on Mirasee FM’s YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player.
And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Thank you. We’ll see you next time.