/*

4/21/2008

How to recognize a consulter.


A story I like and that I have heard in different variations, I would like to quote
of the book of Helmut Fuchs, we are knowledge giants, but implementation dwarfs.

A shepherd guard his sheep on the edge of a deserted road.

Suddenly a brand new Porsche Boxster drives along and brakes with squeaky tires. The driver, a young man with very neat Armani suit, Cerruti shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses and a Pal Zileri-tie, gets out of the car and asks the shepherd:
"When I find out how many sheep you have, will I get one?"
The shepherd looks at the young man, then at his flock of grazing sheep and replies:
"Yes, if you can, then you get a sheep."
The young man parks the car, connects his notebook with his mobile phone, surfs the Internet to the NASA website, scanned the area with his GPS system, opens a database and 60 Excel sheets with various macros and prints with his high-tech mini Printer a 150-page evaluation with color pictures and graphics.
Then he turns to the shepherd and says:
"You have exactly 1586 sheep."
The shepherd replies:
"That is correct, you can take a sheep."
The young man takes a sheep and put it in his Porsche.
The shepherd turns to the young man and asks:
"If i guess your profession, can I get back my sheep?"
The young man replies, "Yes, why not. That is something different."
The shepherd looks deep into the man's eyes:
"You are a company consultant."
"How do you know that?" the young man asks him visibly puzzled.
"Very simply," answers the shepherd.
"Firstly, you arrived here without being called. Secondly, you told me something what I already knew and I had to pay you. And thirdly, you have no idea what I do here, or else you would not have seized my dog. "


I must confess that I like the story time and again.

10 comments:

Erica said...

I love it - that's great (I'm a consultant and it cracked me up).

Ray Gratzner said...

Dear erica, thank you for visiting and I am happy you enjoyed the quote.

Anonymous said...

… funny, I would have thought we had been in the sheep business long before you… they don’t call us “paysan du Danube” just for nothing… “il ne faut pas juger les gens sur les apparences”… parole du Maître, and your point, precisely…

Ray Gratzner said...

Dear rain-bow-bridge, oui je suis d'accord eh bien c'est un histoire bien condensée.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the laugh. I may very well use your story some day.

Ray Gratzner said...

dear susan, you are welcome.

Anonymous said...

... we live in a world made of professionals and amateurs... sometimes the amateur turns into a professional... sometimes the professional turns into an amateur... there is nothing wrong with being an amateur... I don't use this word pejoratively, not anymore... amateurs are connoisseurs, in my "trade", at least... it takes a true amateur to recognise a real professional...

... ps ... I also like l'air des clochettes... and the music goes from the navel to the heart... and there it stays... the blossoming flower, a blue lotus...

... pps ... I rest my case...

Ray Gratzner said...

Dear rain-bow-bridge, That was a nice case and I like how you play with the change of viewpoints.
By the way, what is your trade?

Anonymous said...

... new energy, kind sir, new energy...

Ray Gratzner said...

Dear rain-bow-bridge, new energy, what might it be? I wish you a lot of new engergy