Managers and Leaders: Leaving With Our Imperfections and Those of Others

At the turnover of command today during my assumption as Provincial Director of Samar Provincial Police Office, the Guest of Honor representing the Regional Director, Police Chief Superintendent Roberto Badian, told a very interesting story.  He acknowledged that it was not his original though and a search in the internet turns up the title, “The Broken Pot.”  The story goes this way:

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on an 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 in his master’s house.  Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.  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 masters 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 masters 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 masters table.  Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

It was a beautiful story in itself and needs not much further elaboration.  Many of the interpretations that follow the anecdote focused on the correlation of the cracked pot to ourselves, highlighting the fact that “we are all cracked pots and each of us has our own unique flaws.  It is the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives so very interesting and rewarding.” However for us managers and leaders of people, we can look at the story from the perspective of the water bearer.  Not all people that we lead are perfect and can deliver 100% of the task expected of them.  People will always have flaws and weaknesses and will fall short of our expectations time and again.  As managers, it is upon us to take advantage of these flaws and weaknesses and turn them into strength.  How much of this supposed wastage we turn into something useful and productive is the testament of our managerial and leadership skills.