[jongjong]

> the young soldier slipped on a stone. Feeling flustered in front of the general, the young soldier quickly put the stone back in place to catch up...

> the general asked "aren't you afraid that you'll slip on the same stone on the way back?"

That makes no sense. The general is an idiot if he thinks that the stone is the problem here. There are millions of stones in a river and they shift over time. Also, it's more likely a problem with the way he was walking; not feeling around with his foot to check that the stone is stable before shifting his weight. The message I get from this story is that bosses are often looking to invent ways to criticize their subordinates in order to bring down their self-esteem. Employees with low self-esteem will be more obedient, accept lower salaries, etc...

[smilespray]

Young soldier, aren't you taking the story a bit too literally?

[jongjong]

I guess. But as a millennial who's been in the place of that young soldier a bit too many times, it's difficult to see it from the general's point of view. The message of subordination stands out more to me.

[vdqtp3]

There's no message of subordination. The message is fix the problem, don't just plan to avoid it.

[euroderf]

I see cultural differences here. An American will get grumpy and just fix the damned thing. Someone from another culture might sigh that someone else didn't do their job and shrug shoulders and amble away.