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The Tower of Techno Babel - A Parable of Business Requirements from a Technical Standpoint
There once was a clever monkey whose job it was to control a storage barrel for the animals. He allowed each animal to deposit into or retrieve their possessions from the barrel, and he would guard the items and keep them safe. He enjoyed his job, and took pride in his keen memory, watchful eye, and knowing everything that could and could not be placed in the barrel. Things went along day to day, and everyone seemed satisfied with his performance, and their use of the barrel.
One day, as the monkey was guarding the barrel, a zebra came up and asked to place a tree within the barrel. "A tree?" exclaimed the monkey. "Of course you cannot place a tree within the barrel. It could not hold a tree! Why, it would crush everyone else's possessions!" The zebra hung her head in disappointment and trotted off.
After the zebra, a hedgehog came by and requested to store a hill of dirt within the barrel. "Dirt?!" recoiled the monkey. "No, this barrel is not for dirt. Look at this barrel. Do you think that it could hold a hill of dirt? No, you cannot store your dirt here!" The hedgehog went away perplexed.
Then a dog came along and wanted to know if he could store a stream in the barrel. The monkey, quite upset, began to explain to the dog that this barrel could not hold a stream and such ideas were not to be taken seriously.
Finally, a Robin flew over and asked if she could store sunshine in the barrel. The monkey, quite beside himself at this point, stated emphatically, "NO! You cannot hold sunshine in a barrel! Are you insane?! None of you seem to understand what this barrel is for or how it works! I am the only one that seems to understand the barrel!" The robin flew away, frightented.
Sometime later, the monkey noticed that not many animals were using his barrel anymore. In fact, there did not seem to be many animals visiting him at all. Eventually, he got down from his barrel and wandered around to look for them. He found the majority of them playing on a nearby hill under an enormous fruit tree, and eating and laughing under the bright sunshine. He also noticed a large pile of fruit lying on the ground.
He hailed a nearby elephant lazily picking fruit from this pile and eating it, and questioned, "What is all this, then? Where did all of this fruit come from, and why is it not being placed safely in my barrel where it can be protected? It will surely rot or be stolen before long!"
The elephant, munching on the sweet fruit, turned a languid eye towards the monkey and replied, "Well, they did try, you know. But you kept telling them that you didn't want their fruit in your barrel."
moral: When people from your organization come to you asking seemingly technical questions, technical answers do them little good. Answers that help solve their business problems are what they need. Therefore, it would greatly benefit you to help them find the answers to reach their business objectives, rather than placing road-blocks up to prevent the organization from achieving its actual goals. The barrel is only a tool. If it does not meet their business needs, then, even if it means working outside of your comfort zone, learn to extend it or replace it with a tool that does.
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