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What the Cracked Pot Couldn’t See
An Overly Narrow Focus

Not too long ago, I stumbled upon an ancient Chinese parable. It concerns an elderly Chinese woman who owns two large pots. The two pots are hung on the ends of a pole that the woman carries across her neck. Day after day, the woman engages in the same routine. She walks to a nearby stream, fills the two pots with water, and walks back to her house. By the time the elderly woman gets back home, one of the pots is still full of water, but the other is only half full. This second pot, in fact, has a crack in it, which is why some of the water is lost during the long walk home. Every day for ...

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