The reverse stone soup challenge

There’s a folk tale about Stone Soup. A traveller arrives in a village with nothing but a ‘magical’ stone. He claims the stone can make wonderful soup. The villagers are sceptical, but curious. One by one, prompted by the traveller’s promises, they bring water and a pot, add carrots, potatoes, onions, herbs, salt... By the end, the pot is rich and steaming, and everyone eats well. Depending on how you read it, it’s a story of trickery, of persuasion, or of community creating something greater than the sum of its parts – or perhaps both.

But in design, I often see the opposite story play out. Instead of stone becoming soup, soup becomes a stone.

It starts with a design that works beautifully. Then a stakeholder says: “Do we really need this bit?” Perhaps it doesn’t serve their part of the business. Perhaps they just don’t like it. Another looks, and feels something is off, so they suggest removing something else. One by one, elements are pared away. Eventually all that’s left is the stone – valueless, flavourless, and a far cry from what was first created.

The problem is that design isn’t a collection of stand-alone pieces. It’s a system, a balance. Remove one element and the relationships shift. Remove enough, and the whole thing collapses.

So what’s the alternative? I think it’s about shifting conversations from diagnosis to purpose. Instead of asking, “Do I like this ingredient?”, “What can we take away?”, “What can we change?” the question becomes: “Does this design meet its goal?” (Pushing the metaphor: “Does it nourish?”) In other words, taste the soup as a whole.