A shepherd is herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a
brand-new BMW advances out of the dust cloud towards him. The
driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban
sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the
shepherd,
"If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock,
will
you give me one?"
The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at
his
peacefully-grazing flock and calmly answers, "Sure."
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his IBM Thinkpad and
connects it
to a cell phone, then he surfs to a NASA page on the internet
where
he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area,
and
then opens up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex
formulas. He sends an email on his Blackberry and, after a few
minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a 130 page
report on his miniaturized printer then turns to the shepherd and
says, "You have exactly 1586 sheep."
"That right; take one of the sheep," says the shepherd.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and bundle it
into his car.
Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your
business is, will you give me back my animal?"
"OK, why not?" answers the young man.
"Clearly, you are a consultant," pronounces the shepherd.
"That's right," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required," answers the shepherd. "You turned up here
although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I
already knew, to a question I never asked, and you don't know a
thing about my business....
Now give me back my dog and get outta here."
brand-new BMW advances out of the dust cloud towards him. The
driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban
sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the
shepherd,
"If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock,
will
you give me one?"
The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at
his
peacefully-grazing flock and calmly answers, "Sure."
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his IBM Thinkpad and
connects it
to a cell phone, then he surfs to a NASA page on the internet
where
he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area,
and
then opens up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex
formulas. He sends an email on his Blackberry and, after a few
minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a 130 page
report on his miniaturized printer then turns to the shepherd and
says, "You have exactly 1586 sheep."
"That right; take one of the sheep," says the shepherd.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and bundle it
into his car.
Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your
business is, will you give me back my animal?"
"OK, why not?" answers the young man.
"Clearly, you are a consultant," pronounces the shepherd.
"That's right," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required," answers the shepherd. "You turned up here
although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I
already knew, to a question I never asked, and you don't know a
thing about my business....
Now give me back my dog and get outta here."
