ARK and the eighteenth camel

30 April 2019

There is an old Arabic legend ……

Many years ago, a man died and left his camels to his three sons; one-half to the oldest, one-third to the second son, and one-ninth to the youngest. However, there was a problem, he had only 17 camels.

A dispute quickly arose among the brothers. The eldest son argued that the father’s will was in error because one-half, one-third, and one-ninth do not add up to a whole.

The adversarial negotiation escalated. They finally agreed to go to a wise old woman in the community. They gave her the right to arbitrate their dispute and to dictate a solution. She said, “I am old and unable to ride my camel anymore. Why don’t you take my camel? Then you will have 18 camels and you can divide them among the three of you.”

Accepting her offer the brothers gave half (or 9) of the 18 camels to the eldest son, a third (or 6) of them to the second son and a ninth (or 2) of them to the youngest son. One camel remained. The brothers agreed that they should return it to the old woman.

Organisations also need to find an imaginative way to overcome problems.  Whilst ARK may not provide camels, we do offer skilled resources and solutions to address short term needs.

Social Landlords can never resource to cover peaks (or humps!) in workload nor will they employ skills required only periodically. Be it through pressure of work, the need to supplement existing skills or because there is an experience gap, the requirement for skilled resources on a temporary basis will always exist. ARKs interim resources offer a sound strategic and cost-effective solution. All our interims are part of our sixty strong consultancy team and have a proven pedigree in their field. 

Whether you need interim support with Development, Regeneration, Asset or Housing Management ARK can help.

With approaching thirty years’ experience and over 300 social housing sector clients ARK understands the industry and can offer a pool of sector specialists covering all aspects of housing.