Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ron's Toaster story

Have you ever seen a Toaster before? I’m sure you have. Work’s pretty well doesn’t it? Typically most Toasters have a button / switch on the side that makes the toast lighter or darker. Of course you’ll take the bread and place them in the slot on the very top. You’ll pull the lever down and then if you want, you can go to the refrigerator to get the juice and when you come back you’ll have toast. Right? My question to you is as follows. Who is making the toast? (Take a few moments to think about this)Correct. It’s the toaster. Keep in mind that I won’t ask you any trick questions. Now help me out, why is the toaster making the toast? (Take a few moments to think about this)If you’re telling it’s because that’s the toaster’s job, your right. You see, it’s a system for making toast and it’s the toasters job. It’s reliable and predictable isn’t it? So think about it. If the toaster is responsible for making the toast, what’s your job with the toaster? (Take a few moments to think about this) Once again. If you going to tell me that it’s your job to make sure it’s plugged in and place the bread in the toaster, in essence you’re telling me that you manage the toaster Is that correct? If you’re saying yes, you’re right on. So what’s the message? The message is that toaster’s make toast. And your job is to simply manage the toaster. So if were going to learn anything from this metaphor, it’s that systems build business. And that you job is to simply manage the system.

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