Managers vs Engineers
(1).
A group of Managers on a training course are given the task of finding the height of a flagpole outside the training centre. There are several of them in the group so they all start leaping about trying to figure out how to get the tape measure up to the top of the pole. After about half an hour they decide to try fixing the tape to the string that raises the flag and getting it to the top that way.
They’ve got the tape half way up and it’s stuck on a metal ring when an engineer walks past and asks what they’re trying to do. When he’s told, he lifts the pole out of the ground, lays it down and measures it, tells the group how long it is, and walks on.
“Isn’t that just typical of an engineer?” says one of the managers, “We want the height, and he tells us the length!”
(2).
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted, ‘Excuse me sir, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don’t know where I am.’
The man below replied, ‘You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.’
‘You must be an engineer,’ said the lady balloonist.
‘I am’, replied the man. ‘How did you know?’
'Well, answered the balloonist, ‘everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me at all. If anything you’ve delayed my trip even more.’
The man below responded, ‘You must be a manager.’
‘I am,’ replied the lady balloonist, ‘but, how did you know?’
‘Well,’ said the man, ‘You don’t know where you are, or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air within. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems.’