"Software Engineering"
A software engineer, hardware engineer and
departmental manager were on their way to
a meeting in Switzerland. They were driving
down a steep mountain road when suddenly
the brakes failed. The car careened out of control,
bouncing off guard rails until it finally ground to a
halt along the mountainside.
The occupants of the car were unhurt, but they
had a problem. They were stuck halfway down
the mountain in a car with no brakes.
"I know" said the manager. "Let's have a meeting,
propose a Vision, formulate a Mission Statement,
define some Goals, and through a process of
Continuous Improvement, find a solution to the
Critical Problems and we'll be on our way."
"No," said the hardware engineer. "I've got my
Swiss army knife with me. I can strip down the
car's braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and
we'll be on our way."
"Wait," said the software engineer. "Before we do
anything, shouldn't we push the car back to the top
of the mountain and see if it happens again?"