A-Idea - Smashing Tomatoes
This entry was posted on 3/5/2007 8:02 PM and is filed under A-Ideas,Stories,Appreciative Intelligence.
This entry starts a string of a-ideas told to me by people who have attended my workshops, read my coauthored book or shared their story after learning about appreciative intelligence. For those of you who are new to a-ideas, an a-idea is a solution generated through appreciative intelligence – reframing, appreciating and envisioning.If you've had an a-idea, please share it with us!
A gardener in a small town was frustrated. On summer evenings after dark, someone was sneaking into his garden, stealing his vegetables and smashing them in the street in front of his home. Frustrated, he put up a fence around his garden. To no avail, he began locking a gate to his property. His anger grew.
One day he had a flash of insight. He harvested the vegetables. Then he arranged all his extra tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash on a table with a sign that welcomed anyone who would enjoy eating the fresh vegetables to take them home. The next day, all the vegetables were gone, but none lay in the road. Again, he offered his extra vegetables to his neighbors with a sign that invited them to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Immediately, the vandalism stopped – no more nighttime raids of his garden, no more splattered tomatoes on the street in front of his home.
Because the gardener saw something different – his extra vegetables as an opportunity to welcome friendly neighbors instead of as a prize to horde from vandals – his gate now stays unlocked.
