What's your job?
Once
upon a time there was a shepherd looking after his sheep on the
edge of a deserted road.
Suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee screeches to a halt next to
him.
The driver, a young man dressed in a Brioni suit, Cerruti shoes,
Ray-Ban sun glasses, Jovial Swiss wrist-watch, and a Pierre
Cardin tie gets out and asks the shepherd, "If I guess how
many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?"
The shepherd looks at the young man, then looks at the grazing
sheep and replies, "Okay."
The young man leaves the car, connects Pocket PC and cell phone,
enters a NASA website, scans the ground using his GPS, opens 60
Excel tables filled with logarithms, then prints out a 150 page
report on his high-tech mini-IR-printer.
He turns to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1586
sheep here."
The shepherd answers, "That's correct, you can have your
sheep."
The young man takes an animal and puts it in the back of his
jeep.
The shepherd looks at him and asks, "If I guess your
profession, will you return the animal to me?"
The young man answers, "Yes, why not?"
The shepherd says, "You are a consultant."
"That's amazing - How did you know?" asks the young
man.
"Very simple," answers the shepherd. "First, you
came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to
tell me something I already knew.
Third, you don't understand anything about my business.
Now can I have my dog back?"