I recall as a child being told the fable of Stone Soup, made famous by the Grimm Brothers and later retold in numerous forms and many languages. This is my interpretation as I remember it being told to me.

Once upon a time, two travelers come to a village. They are carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Times are tough so when the travelers arrive, the villagers are skeptical and unwilling to share what little food they have with the hungry travelers.

The travelers take it upon themselves to fill their pot with water, and drop a large stone in it. They place the pot over a fire in the village square. Curious, one of the villagers asks what they are doing. The two travelers explain that they are making “stone soup”. Stirring the pot for a bit, one traveler tastes the soup and shares that the soup could use some garnish for flavor. The villager scurries back to his home and returns with the needed garnish. It is quickly added to the pot.

In time another villager happens by, inquiring about the pot. The travelers again mention that their stone soup hasn’t quite reached its full potential. The villager runs back to her home and returns with a handful of seasoning.

Over the course of the day, more and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. By nightfall, the once empty pot is now overflowing with delicious soup. Our tale ends with the villagers enjoying the company of their two new friends over a hot bowl of soup shared by all.

I’m sure you’ve heard a form of this fable before, but I share it again for a few reasons — some obvious, some not so apparent.

No matter if you are managing a website for the first time or you are a journeyman, you will quickly find that it can’t be done in a vacuum, by yourself. Our use of the Internet is now highly social. Years ago, we were hampered by an archaic sender/receiver model where we consumed what was given. We are no longer in the business of pushing information at the people visiting our websites. Our site visitors have something to contribute. Managing a website requires a team of people that can support one another and assist when one member is unable to contribute. Excuse the raw analogy, but if you are the sole keeper of the password to the church website and get run over by a bus, the rest of us are left not only morning your loss, but possibly that of the website.

Related Resources

• Whatever you Do, Do More with Others and Less Alone / John Saddington
• The Nine Pillars of Successful Web Teams / Jesse James Garrett

Related posts:

1. Free web hosting for 501(c)(3) non profits and churches!
2. Using the POST Method to Craft a Social Media Strategy for Ministry