So I'm going to leave you with the following amusing texts from my "funny documents" file. They are definitely worth the read. Now, remember that I am an engineer that believes that Servant/Democratic Leadership is much better than Directive/Autocratic Leadership in almost all organizations. (link) Maybe that's why I love these and Dilbert comics....
Happy Thanksgiving !!!
Hot Air Balloons - "The Engr and the Mgr" (author inknown to me)
A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man below says: "Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees N. latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees W. longitude."
"You must be an engineer," says the balloonist.
"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost.
"The man below says, "You must be a manager."
"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you are going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."
Appendix F - Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle by R. P. Feynman (link)
Introduction It appears that there are enormous differences of opinion as to the probability of a failure with loss of vehicle and of human life. The estimates range from roughly 1 in 100 to 1 in 100,000. The higher figures come from the working engineers, and the very low figures from management. What are the causes and consequences of this lack of agreement? Since 1 part in 100,000 would imply that one could put a Shuttle up each day for 300 years expecting to lose only one, we could properly ask "What is the cause of management's fantastic faith in the machinery?"
Comments encouraged !!!
Additional Richard Feynman links:
Wikipedia
Feynman online
Feynman Quotes
2 comments:
I am a great admirer of Feynman. I recommend the videos of him you can find on youtube.com and his books.
Thanks Jon. For the readers, I added some additional Richard Feynman links to the bottom of the post. From the Wiki link, it looks like he had quite an interesting life.
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