The $64,000 Question

"The $64,000 Question"

Bob had finally made it to the last round of the
$64,000 Question. The night before the big
question, he told the Emcee that he desired
a question on American History.

The big night had arrived. Bob made his way on
stage in front of the studio and TV audience. He
had become the talk of the week. He was the best
guest this show had ever seen. The Emcee stepped
up to the mike.

"Bob, you have chosen American History as your final
question. You know that if you correctly answer this
question, you will walk away $64,000 dollars richer.
Are you ready?"

Bob nodded with a cocky confidence - the crowd went
nuts. He hadn't missed a question all week.

"Bob, your question on American History is a two-part
question. As you know, you may answer either part first.
As a rule, the second half of the question is always
easier. Which part would you like to take a stab at first?"

Bob was now becoming more noticeably nervous. He
couldn't believe it, but he was drawing a blank. American
History was his easiest subject, but he played it safe.

"I'll try the second part first."

The Emcee nodded approvingly. "Here we go Bob. I will
ask you the second half first, then the first half."

The audience silenced with gross anticipation...

"Bob, here is your question: And in what year did it
happen??"

************************************************

"Car Accident"

A Software Engineer, a Hardware Engineer and
a Departmental Manager were on their way to a
meeting in Switzerland. They were driving down
a steep mountain road when suddenly the brakes
on their car failed. The car careened almost out
of control down the road, bouncing off the crash
barriers, until it miraculously ground to a halt,
scraping along the mountainside.

The car's occupants, shaken but unhurt, now had
a problem: they were stuck halfway down a mountain
in a car with no brakes. What were they to do?

"I know", said the Departmental Manager, "Let's have
a meeting, propose a Vision, formulate a Mission
Statement, define some Goals, and by a process
of Continuous Improvement find a solution to the
Critical Problems, and we can be on our way."

"No, no", said the Hardware Engineer, "That will
take far too long, and besides, that method has never
worked before. I've got my Swiss Army knife with me,
nd in no time at all I can strip down the car's braking
system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we can be on our way."

"Well", said the Software Engineer, "Before we do
anything, I think we should push the car back up the
road and see if it happens again."
Received on Wed Nov 9 14:17:51 2005