Replying to LO29199 --
Jan Lelie writes:
> I also like to use this metaphor because of the story of the three blind
> man (referees?), discussing the nature of the elephant (it's a snake! it's
> a tree! it's brush!). The elephant off course can be seen as "the
> problem". To which i've added that (organizational) problems are as big or
> as large as an elephant. In fact, the elephant is as large as the
> organization. On its back, the top management rides (it's a
> vision-thing!), the work floor walks between its legs (it's an
> obstruc-ting!) while the middle manager holds his breath (its stink-ing!).
It might be worth pointing out, for our non-US participants who didn't
already know, that the elephant is the "totem" of the Republican party,
now enjoying ascendancy in the US government.
> Only, be aware of Hofstadters' law: "Everything is more complicated than
> you think, even if you take into account Hofstadters' law".
Actually, Hofstadter's Law starts out "Things take longer than you think
..."; perhaps this is Lelie's Lemma?
With joy and thanks to Jan,
Dwig
--Don Dwiggins <d.l.dwiggins@computer.org>
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