Once Upon a Business – Episode 106
The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean
Lisa Bloom: Once there was a poor old woman who lived in a village. She’d collected a bundle of beans and was going to cook them. So she prepared a fire on her hearth, and to make it burn up quickly, she lit it with a handful of straw.
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, folk tale or traditional story, so that we can discover the amazing lessons relevant for business and for entrepreneurs.
When she threw the beans into the pot, one escaped her unnoticed and slipped onto the floor, where it lay by a straw. Soon after, a glowing coal jumped out of the fire and joined the others. Then the straw began and said, little friends, how came you hither? The coal answered, I have happily escaped the fire, and if I had not done so by force of will, my death would certainly have been a most cruel one. I should have been burnt to a cinder. The bean said, I have also escaped so far with a whole skin. But if the old woman had put me into the pot, I should have been pitilessly boiled down to broth like my friends. Would a better fate have befallen me then? Asked the straw. The old woman packed all my brothers into the fire and smoke, 60 of them, all done for at once. Fortunately, I slipped through her fingers.
What are we to do now, though? Asked the coal. My opinion is, said the bean, that as we have escaped death, we must all keep together like good friends, and so that we may run no further risks, we had better quit the country. This proposal pleased both the others, and they set out together. Before long they came to a little stream, and as there was neither path nor bridge, they did not know how to get over. The straw at last had an idea and said, I will throw myself over, and then you can walk across upon me like a bridge. So the straw stretched himself across from one side to the other, and the coal, which was of a fiery nature, tripped gaily over the newly built bridge. But when it got to the middle and heard the water rushing below, it was frightened and remained speechless, not daring to go any further.
The straw, beginning to burn, broke in two and fell into the stream. The coal, falling with it, fizzled out in the water. The bean, who had cautiously remained on the bank, could not help laughing over the whole business, and having begun, could not stop but laughed till she split her sides. Now all would have been up with her, had not, fortunately, a wandering tailor been taking a rest by the stream. As he had a sympathetic heart, he brought out a needle and thread and stitched her up again. But as he used black thread, all beans have a black seam to this day.
This is a story by the Brothers Grimm. When you read or hear the original version of the Grimm Brothers stories, they’re harsh and often gruesome. They were told in a time where children’s experiences were not Disneyfied. Nothing was softened for the gentle ears of a child. So when the glass shoe didn’t fit one of the Cinderella’s sisters, they simply cut off her toes. The other sister, they cut off her heels. Yes, it was a grisly time for stories. Well, this story isn’t just a quirky tale about household items coming to life. There are clear lessons, and it’s a wonderful metaphor for the fragile alliances and missteps in entrepreneurship.
One way to interpret the story is to see that the straw, Coal and Bean each represent a classic entrepreneurial archetype. The dreamer, Straw, the risk taker, Coal and the cautious planner, Bean. The dreamer has big ideas, throwing themselves into ambitious projects like building a bridge. But they underestimate their own limitations. The risk taker charges ahead with passion, but freezes at the first sign of danger, ultimately burning out. And then there’s the cautious planner. The one who stays on the sidelines, survives the chaos and learns to laugh at the folly of it all. And of course, the being doesn’t escape scot free. Bean’s laughter splits them wide open. It’s a reminder that even survival comes with scars and every stumble leaves its mark.
The Bean gets stitched back together by a wandering tailor, proof that resilience isn’t about avoiding mistakes, but patching yourself up and moving forward even with visible scars. The story also speaks of teamwork and the lack thereof. On the positive side, they decide to stay together. As Bean says, my opinion is that we have escaped death. We must all keep together like good friends. And so that we may run no further risks, we’d better quit the country. And they have a common goal, to run away. The Straw was light, the coal fiery, and the Bean was solid but fragile. So they could each contribute something unique to the team.
This is so important in a team, to have a diversity of skills and perspectives so that any individual weakness can be compensated by others strengths. But in the story, the characters didn’t anticipate the challenges that could arise. Like the coal burning the bridge and then falling into the water. In business, poor planning and lack of foresight can derail even the most promising projects. Businesses should identify potential risks and develop contingency plans to mitigate them. And then there’s team dynamics. The three didn’t exactly communicate effectively about how to cross the river safely.
Teams need to be open and adapt, so when communication isn’t optimal, it can lead to failure. Their optimism and confidence meant that they ended up underestimating the extent of the challenge that faced them in crossing the river. In business, we need to balance optimism and ambition with realism. Also in business, we need to be adaptable. So when straw caught fire, they had no backup plan. It was inevitable that both straw and coal would be gone into the water. In business, we need to anticipate challenges and brainstorm other options.
The final lesson is the one I love the most. Bean laughs so hard that she splits her scythes and gets sewn up by the passing sailor, so she’s left with the scar. That explains why all beans have a black seam. To this day, it reminds us that we all carry scars, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s desirable. It’s a testament to our experiences and the journey we’ve taken to follow this path. Nowadays, the world seems to be in such a terrible mess and I’ve felt more challenged than ever. I found over the last year, year and a half, I’ve really had to struggle to see hope and light with all that’s going on in the world in so many parts of the world, and I’ve often wondered if I were to fast forward ahead, what would I see? What would I remember from this period?
And I wonder how we’re going to be scarred. I’m sure we will be scarred from this period. Many people around the world are being scarred from this period of time that we’re all living through. This story feels like a nice reminder that someday in the future I we may be able to look back at these difficult times and to see the scars that we have accumulated and yet still be able to see the beauty in the path that we’ve taken and the wisdom we have acquired. For me, that feels like a little bit of hope and quite a bit of light, and I think that’s as good as it gets.
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 Making it and To Lead Is Human. 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.