Post photo: Enjoying coffee | © Pixabay
It's been a while since I posted a poem. Some people were happy, some others are now happy. The following poem is probably appropriate for today and comes from James V Cunningham.
Meditation on Statistical Method
Plato, despair!
We prove by standards
How numbers bear
Empirical forms,How random wrong
Will be average right
If time be long
And error slight;But in our hearts
Hyperbole
Curves and departures
To infinity.Error is boundless.
James V. Cunningham, The Judge Is Furious (1947)
Nor hope nor doubt,
Though both be groundless,
Will average out.
Ok, the coffee thing this morning was a miss; But just one ancient Chinese proverb: A courtyard common to all will be swept by none.
And while I'm on the subject of telling stories, the question here is who were the first certified trade unionists?
Clearly and without any doubt, the three kings. The Bible already says: They stopped their work, wrapped themselves in silk and went on a journey. By the way, I got this wisdom from an Austrian long-playing record from the 1960s or early 1970s.
Which now leads me to the first certified project manager, namely Sun Tzu. The reason for this can be found in some of the introductions to his book “The Art of War“, which roughly describes the following story.
A Chinese ruler hears about Sunzi's art, summons him and gives him the following task. If he solves them, he will become a general and advisor; if he doesn't solve them, he will lose his head.
The task is very simple. He is supposed to turn the ruler's harem into a functioning military unit today.
Sunzi has the women line up, equips them with uniforms and weapons and explains to them the basic principles of line up and marching. He then asks if they understood this too. They say yes and he hands over command to the ruler's favorite wife. The result: a pile of chickens.
Sun Tzu realizes that they cannot do this and blames himself. He comes to the conclusion that he probably didn't explain it to the ladies quite correctly. And so he explains everything again. He asks again if they understood. The ladies say yes again and he hands over command to the said favorite woman for the second time. The result: a pile of chickens.
Sunzi now realizes that it is only due to a lack of discipline and has his favorite woman's head chopped off. The ruler intervenes briefly but in vain because Sunzi points out to him that he is in charge and will later be held responsible for success or failure.
He then lets the ruler choose a new favorite woman and gives her command. The result: a military unit.
Over the last two and a half thousand years, project management has evolved at least somewhat, but the basic principles remain the same.
