One day, the senior plant manager of Widget Co., Incorporated retired. After nearly forty years of service, this unsung genius could finally look forward to sleeping in, playing golf, and traveling when and where he liked.
Some six months into his retirement, the President at Widget Co. called our retired hero.
"Jack?" Asked Mr. President.
"Yes Tom." Replied the retiree.
"Jack we have a problem. Now I know that you're retired. I'm not asking you to come back to work or do any heavy lifting. We have a problem in the plant and we need your expertise to identify the problem. We've been trying to fix it ourselves for months, but we can't seem to find the problem. Obviously, we expect a bill for your services."
The two discussed some details of the problem. Jack replied that he'd be at the plant first thing Monday of the following week.
That Monday, Jack arrived at the plant and met with all the senior engineers. Many theories were presented. A list of attempted fixes were submitted to Jack for his review. Jack listened intently to all of the Widget Co. engineers. He occassionally nodded and sometimes smiled. Mostly, he listened.
When lunch time came, the others invited Jack to the cafeteria. Jack declined, wishing to review some schematics. He said he would be along shortly.
When the rest of the engineers returned from lunch, they found the master blueprints for the plant on a table. Jack had posted a sticky note with an arrow and a big red X written on the note. "Here's your problem" was written under the X in Jack's all-too-familiar handwriting. Jack was gone.
That afternoon, inspections were made. Jack was right - the problem existed exactly where he said. Parts were ordered, repairs scheduled, and the Widget Co. plant was back in full operation by the end of the week.
The following Monday, the Widget Co. President received a letter from Jack. It was an invoice. As the president opened the invoice he noticed that there was one line for "Diagnostic Consulting." The he looked at the bottom line. Jack's invoice was for $60,000.00.
A little shaken, the president called Jack.
"Hi Jack, Tom here. Listen Jack, I have some questions about your invoice. Would you mind providing an itemized invoice for us?"
"No problem, Tom." Jack assured him.
The next day, another letter arrived from Jack. His invoice read as follows:
Sticky Note - 1 - $.50
Magic Marker - 1 - $1.50
Knowing where to put the mark - 1 - $59,998.00
And THAT - my dear readers - is why you pay professionals. You don't pay computer professionals to click a mouse or type on a keyboard. You pay them for what they know.
Some six months into his retirement, the President at Widget Co. called our retired hero.
"Jack?" Asked Mr. President.
"Yes Tom." Replied the retiree.
"Jack we have a problem. Now I know that you're retired. I'm not asking you to come back to work or do any heavy lifting. We have a problem in the plant and we need your expertise to identify the problem. We've been trying to fix it ourselves for months, but we can't seem to find the problem. Obviously, we expect a bill for your services."
The two discussed some details of the problem. Jack replied that he'd be at the plant first thing Monday of the following week.
That Monday, Jack arrived at the plant and met with all the senior engineers. Many theories were presented. A list of attempted fixes were submitted to Jack for his review. Jack listened intently to all of the Widget Co. engineers. He occassionally nodded and sometimes smiled. Mostly, he listened.
When lunch time came, the others invited Jack to the cafeteria. Jack declined, wishing to review some schematics. He said he would be along shortly.
When the rest of the engineers returned from lunch, they found the master blueprints for the plant on a table. Jack had posted a sticky note with an arrow and a big red X written on the note. "Here's your problem" was written under the X in Jack's all-too-familiar handwriting. Jack was gone.
That afternoon, inspections were made. Jack was right - the problem existed exactly where he said. Parts were ordered, repairs scheduled, and the Widget Co. plant was back in full operation by the end of the week.
The following Monday, the Widget Co. President received a letter from Jack. It was an invoice. As the president opened the invoice he noticed that there was one line for "Diagnostic Consulting." The he looked at the bottom line. Jack's invoice was for $60,000.00.
A little shaken, the president called Jack.
"Hi Jack, Tom here. Listen Jack, I have some questions about your invoice. Would you mind providing an itemized invoice for us?"
"No problem, Tom." Jack assured him.
The next day, another letter arrived from Jack. His invoice read as follows:
Sticky Note - 1 - $.50
Magic Marker - 1 - $1.50
Knowing where to put the mark - 1 - $59,998.00
And THAT - my dear readers - is why you pay professionals. You don't pay computer professionals to click a mouse or type on a keyboard. You pay them for what they know.
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