“A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on one end of a pole which he carried across his neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer? "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house.

Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have had this beauty to grace his house." Author unknown.

This story is a great one to start a conversation about using people to their best potential.

Many of us have areas where we aren’t as good as someone else or where we are weak in comparison to our own strong points.

Coaching people, or managing them for that matter, is about positioning them for success. Sometimes that includes helping them develop new skills and talents, at other times it means putting people into roles that do not require them to perform in ways that are beyond them.

Good leaders learn to recognize the difference.

A fable like this can be used to challenge anyone in a leadership role to carefully assess the strengths and weaknesses of those who work for him or her.

The imagination of the team leader or manager can definitely add value, whatever the skills of the team. That is a part of the art of management.

This story also provides us with a wonderful example of how to use a story to communicate a perspective to people without preaching or turning the lesson into something negative. The story makes its point in a non-threatening way.

This is a benefit of fables. They are metaphors that allow you to make a point in a way that stays in the mind of the listener and the lessons can be applied across a variety of settings because the point is made in such a fundamental way.

The Cracked Pot story also illustrates the partnership between the water bearer and the damaged pot. The partnership arose without fanfare or a corporate initiative. The water bearer was clever enough to capitalize upon the fact that one pot leaked.

By understanding the nature of the relationship, what the pot could and couldn’t do, the water bearer found a way to create value by working with what he had at his disposal. Partnerships can create outcomes that are not possible otherwise.

There was the necessary vision of what could happen as a result of the daily trip to the stream. There was an impact - the water spilling out along the path, and a realization of how that impact could be valuable.

Finally, there was an intimacy between the partners. The water bearer knew his pots and recognized the potential inherent in both because he knew of the one pot’s defect. All of the elements are there.

The cracked pot was even more valuable than it would have been without the partnership that evolved.

The fable can be used to help people recognize dynamics that might be more difficult to appreciate without the aid of a story.