Staggering up a city hill in summer, sweatier than an ape's armpit, the high humidity hanging on my shoulders like a particularly weighty rucksack.
In those brief moments of respite when my mind is not consumed by the overpowering fact of how needlessly hot it is, thoughts turn inevitably to those other fabled hillwalkers: Jack and Jill and their doomed quest to fetch a pail of water.
Jack and Jill's failure, obviously, can be blamed squarely on the idiotic idea of sending two people to perform an assignment easily accomplished by one. Getting in each other's way, Jill accidentally tripped Jack, causing him to fall and pull Jill down with him while breaking his crown in the process. They tumble unceremoniously to the foot of the hill once again; their only bucket lost, possibly broken beyond repair. Injured and dehydrated, bereft of the life-giving waters they sought, Jack and Jill slowly die of thirst in an arid landscape of mishap and misadventure.
It's an unsatisfactory state of affairs simply avoided by streamlining workflow and delegating tasks.
Indeed, the inefficient staffing example of Jack and Jill provides a great case study for business; and as I collapse on the sidewalk from heat exhaustion, unable to proceed on my own journey, I resolve to write a memo on the subject should I ever manage to make it to the office.
