A man found a cocoon

An unknown source told a story about a man finding a cocoon. It has a moral that we see as being pertinent to individual development, teams and organisations:

Beware of taking away opportunities for others to grow.

Here’s the story …

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, and he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress – it appeared stuck.

The man decided to help the butterfly and with a pair of scissors he cut open the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. The man watched the butterfly expecting it to take on its correct proportions, but nothing changed.

The butterfly stayed the same. It was never able to fly. In his kindness and haste the man did not realise that the butterfly's struggle to get through the small opening of the cocoon is nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight.

So what?

Like the sapling which grows strong from being buffeted by the wind, in life we all need to struggle sometimes to make us strong.

Now what?

When we interact with others, it is helpful to recognise when people need to do things for themselves.