The Consultant and the Shepherd

A shepherd is looking after his sheep on the side of a deserted road when suddenly a brand new Porsche screeches to a halt. The driver, a man dressed in an Armani suit, Cerutti shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, TAG-heuer wristwatch, and a Pierre Cardin tie, gets out and asks the Shepherd, “If I can tell you how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?”

Curious, the shepherd looks at the man and replies, “Okay.”

The man opens his laptop, enters a NASA Webster, scans the ground using his GPS, opens a database with 60 Excel tables filled with logarithms and pivot tables, then prints out a 10-page report on his high-tech mini-printer. He turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1,586 sheep here.”

The shepherd smiles. “That’s correct; you can have your sheep.”

The man makes his pick and puts it in the back seat of his Porsche. The shepherd watches quietly, then asks, “If I guess your profession, will you return my animal to me?”

The young man answers, “Sure, why not.”

The shepherd says, “You are a management consultant from a top consultancy.”

How did you know?” asks the surprised 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. And third, you don’t understand anything about my business . . . Now can I have my DOG back?”

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