“Once upon a time, in a land far from here, there was a clothing factory. One part of this clothing factory made uniforms. The uniforms came in many shapes and sizes: some were sporting team outfits, some were “corporate wardrobe”, others were emergency services uniforms… but they all looked alike. Few of the people working in the factory spent any time actually making uniforms — more time was spent on things like adding or removing badges and insignia and players’ names from the uniforms, or completing reports to state that the holes in customers’ uniforms were appropriately mended (whether or not any such holes actually existed)…
“Sometimes the sleeves would fall off, and the pockets would be on the back instead of the front (or on the front instead of the back), and when this would happen and the customers complained the managers of the factory would make lots of noise and implement more procedures and promise the customers it wouldn’t happen again. The factory workers would have to complete more reports, spending more time on the reports and still less time making uniforms.
“Many of the factory workers were unhappy, and dreamed of getting back to making uniforms instead of writing reports and sewing badges. Others dreamed of designing uniforms. Still others dreamed of moving to a different part of the factory, where suits or pyjamas or swimming togs or wedding dresses were made without the need for any of the strict rules that the managers said were required when making uniforms…”
Part Two coming soon…
Crossed Wires 