masterwordsmith-unplugged

The Efficiency of a Government

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.

Government said," Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Government said," How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Government said," How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Government said," How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Government said," Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Government said," We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.



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Working for the Government


You know you work for the government when:

* The process becomes more important than the product

* You don't see anything wrong with attending a meeting on a subject you know nothing about

* You feel you contributed to the meeting just by being there

* You stop raising issues/problems because you know you will be the one answering them.

* You fly first class across the country to attend a conference with 100+ people to discuss the fact that the project does not have enough money

* You''ve sat at the same desk for 3 years, done the same thing for 3 years, but have had 3 different business cards

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The Bridge to Luxury

Once an Indian minister was on a tour to France and his French counterpart invited him for a dinner. When the Indian minister arrived at the latter's residence, he was astonished to see that the latter was living in a very grand and luxurious bungalow and they had dinner in silver spoons and plates and all his bungalow were filled of precious antiques and other articles. He can not hold himself back and asked the French minister the reason for him living in such a grand style. On asking the French minister took him to a window.

French Minister : Do you see the river over there ?

Indian Minister : Yes.

French Minister : Do you see the bridge over it ?

Indian Minister : Yes.

French Minister : 10%.

After 5 years the same French minister got a chance to visit India and now it was the turn of our same Indian minister to invite him for a dinner. When the French minister arrived at the Indian minister's residence, he was stunned to see that the latter was living in a palace like house and they had dinner in golden spoons and plates and he had hundreds of servants and all his bungalow were filled of jewelries and costliest furniture, antiques and other articles. Now it was his turn to ask, "Dear friend how could you afford to live such a grand style?"

The Indian minister took him to a window.

Indian Minister : Do you see the river over there ?

French Minister : Yes.

Indian Minister : Do you see the bridge over it ?

French Minister : No.

Indian Minister : 100 %.

-Author Unknown-