This is a story about a competition between 4 woodcutters

Thomas, Horatio and Bruce were three woodcutters with big muscles and Alan was a woodcutter with a clever brain.

I called this fairy tale "the Eagle's whistle".

This is how it goes, and of course it started with…

Long ago and long ago it was. Before your times and before my times, long after your father's time were gone and long before my father's times, even before after during your children's times and my great grandchildren's times.

 

Chapter 1

In those times, there was a company named Global Market who was willing to increase his business. To achieve growth, Global Market (we will call him GM) needed additional space to deploy his new activities. GM knew he had available space to leverage his growth because he had a big, deep, entangled and knotted forest which should be a perfect place to deploy his future business. GM thought he would need half the size of the forest, thus he divided the forest in 2 parts, half and half, and the first half was divided again in 3 parts for immediate work. GM hired 3 well known woodcutters companies to cut the trees which covered these tree parts of the first half, one part for each woodcutter. The remaining half of the forest was to be kept as such, a deep forest with standing trees, until needed for future use. Business was growing fast.

GM had a deadline of 100 days before the winter to achieve the task. Because you know, when the winter is there, it's not possible to work in the forest anymore because of the snow. And it's also time for business deployment and Xmas dinner with nice fairy tales such as this one.

The three selected woodcutters companies were managed by big old guys, Thomas, Horatio and Bruce. They had always been using old steel axes and steel hatchets to cut down the trees.

Thomas, Horatio and Bruce did spend many and many a year in learning how to handled theses heavy axes and rigid hatchets, which is a paradox because although rather limited and simple as far as their features and possibilities were concerned, these rigid axes and heavy hatchets requires years and years of painful learning to be mastered. At the time when GM asked the three woodcutters to cut down his forest, this complex skill of handling old axes and hatchets was owned by only but a few and rare peoples all over the world.

For these axes and hatchets were very heavy and fully rigid tools, which were manufactured decades and decades ago in those days when cutting a forest meant to cut wide roads into linear firs and pines forests. In those past and nearly forgotten years when the heavy axes and rigid hatchets were made, the forests were more or less regular in structures, and customers needed most often to cut square cubes of wood. But times of easy money and fast growing business were over by now, and the forests at the time of our story were now deep, dark, knotted and entangled, with a numerous variety of species, not only firs and pines.

The fourth woodcutter we mentioned in the Story Title was named Alan, but he was not yet in the story at this stage. He would appear later on in our story telling. I know you are eager to hear more about him, but as it happens, each step has to be taken one by one.

 

Chapter 2

So let us start the story from the beginning before going to its end.

GM originally selected Thomas, Horatio and Bruce because they were advertising a lot about their company being the Number One in Woodcutting, and also because they were big companies. It may appear to be quite strange to you that 3 different companies claim to be Number One, but that's how it was in those days: advertising although often misleading was taken in high esteem by peoples such as GM.

That's also why GM did not ask Alan, because Alan was a smaller and new company, and that made him not qualifying for the competition. The Purchasing Department in GM's Companies had strict procedures and grids about why vendors should be allowed to work with GM.

To make a long story short, early one morning in late June, the 3 big woodcutters companies started to work at GM's Office. GM though the first day would have been done in the forest itself, where the work has to be done, but no, none of the three woodcutters companies was willing to go in the forest, they wanted to start working in the office.

Thomas first task was to make GM buying big trucks with huge wheels, higher than a very tall man's head, and unusually strong brakes. Thomas explained to GM that these trucks were required to get rid of the trees out of the forest when they will be cutting down. Thomas explained that you cannot let the trees lying on the ground down in the forest, you need to clean the forest from its fallen trees. It did make sense in a way, thus GM bought the trucks. A lot of what the three woodcutters were saying made sense in a way, at least from their point of view.

Then Thomas' next task was to start building a big house to store the cutting trees. You know, cutting the trees is one thing, but once down to the ground, trees take a tremendous amounts of square feet, and Thomas was using the traditional way of handling this: to build a large and expensive house even before starting to cut the first tree. This Tree Storage House will be used to store the trees once cut.

GM explained to Thomas that he was willing to cut down a forest, not to build a tree storage house neither to owned the largest trucks of the city, but Thomas told him that it was the usual way to work. And it happened that Horatio and Bruce told GM the same story, thus GM ended to agree, although he began to be worried because the 100 days were down to a mere 90 after he lost 10 days in buying the trucks, which was not expected, and still not a single tree had been cut yet. But GM was not a professional woodcutter, thus he still trusted the three office-working-trucks-buying-house-building-woodcutters.

Horatio did the same as Thomas, he asked GM to buy the trucks, additional trucks because "no, the trucks you have bought for Thomas were not enough, we need bigger and dedicated trucks for our own purposes".

And then Horatio too start to build his own storage house, because "no, the Tree Storage House build by Thomas do not match the same criteria as ours". And as it happened, this is the way the traditional woodcutters are working, Bruce did the same: specific and dedicated trucks, storage houses.

GM was nevertheless amazed because he was willing to increase his business, not to buy trucks neither to build trees storage houses… But that's how it was done since so many years. And its purchasing department told him it was the usual way to work. Such told him his CIO (Cutting Information Officer) and his CFO (Cutting Forest Officer).

 

Chapter 3

Alas!

GM was not yet finished with his surprise: because, at about the same time as Thomas and Horatio, and following the exact same rocky road of buying trucks and building storage houses, Bruce also send an army of people into GM's Office to draw maps of how the forest should look like after the trees would have been cut.

GM thought it was a strange and funny question. Woodcutters should be the one who know what a forest looks like when all the trees will have been cut. GM himself had never seen this earlier in his life, but he could imagine that it should look like a field or a meadow or a prairie, something like that.

But the three woodcutter wanted GM to describe with whole detail from bottom to top what it should look like after the tree would have been cut. Bruce used a different name for this long and time consuming step than the name Thomas or Horatio did use on their own, but basically, the three of them were working as follows: this drawing, as usual, was to be made out of the customer inner and mental projection of what a cut forest should be like after all the trees would have been cut.

GM was a little uncomfortable about this. First because he thought that drawing a map requires you to go in the field and cannot be made from your office. And next because he never had a detailed experience of what it should be like after the forest would have be cut down. GM tried to explain that it was difficult to describe something you have never made nor seen, all the more from an office instead as from the field, but Thomas, Horatio and Bruce, again, were not flexible at all on this point.  In fact they were as rigid as their tools on how the job should be run. No way to make them change their mind, no way to ask them to start cutting the trees. Draw the map first.

Trapped as he was because the days were rolling and rolling under the Wheel of the Time, and because the Board of the Weather Forecast tended to predict snow earlier this year, GM agreed once more and he dived deeply into his mind to try to describe what it should be like.

This was a stressing period because he was clearly made aware by Thomas Horatio and Bruce that any mistakes will have an impact on delivery time. Another element of stress and time consuming factor was that GM had to describe the map three times: one to Thomas, one to Horatio and then to Bruce. GM tried to use the same drawing and mapping as he did for the first and to give it to the other two woodcutters, but no, this was not possible, because the tools were not the same, and each of them required a specific drawing. Thus GM did the job once, twice and three times in a row.

And to tell you the truth, nobody could have told exactly the same the story three times in a row. That's why although the target was the same for the three woodcutters, the three drawings of the cutting tree were not alike.  The only thing they share in common was that after they have been finalized at a high cost by Thomas, Horatio and Bruce, GM was not able to understand any of them. Although he gave the original ideas and described his need, he was not able to understand what the final result was. GM started to worry a little more because he had to sign the drawings, and because any changes will be invoiced to him after that.

GM also worried still a little more because, after about 40 days for Horatio, a little less for Bruce, a little more for Thomas, not a single tree had been cut down yet. Sunny summer was gone, autumn was here with his golden color, and winter was coming nearer.

But for GM's relief, Thomas, Horatio and Bruce told GM that they were now ready to start cutting the trees: the trucks were ready and fuelled, Storage Houses were nearly built (these kind of houses are never finished anyway, they are always under construction, and as soon as a level is finished, it must be modified), and the maps were drawn.

 

Chapter 4

So came the Day when the three woodcutters started to cut the first trees.

The next eight weeks were quite busy, as least from what GM could hear from Thomas, Horatio and Bruce. Because GM was not able to actually see what was being done: it was too technical a work for him to participate. Of course the first trees went down, and were trucked to the storage house, and this gave GM some hope. But the process used by the woodcutters was a strange one. Instead of fully cutting a parcel in the forest, they first cut samples here and there, and then back to where they started, to come again on the next place. Thomas for example, needed to link each tree of one parcel to another tree of another parcel, which should be cut next and in a specific order, and the other way round too. And it seems to GM that if, or perhaps because, the axes and hatchets were very complex and rigid, the process to do the job was even more complex and rigid.

No one expect Thomas, Horatio and Bruce understand what was happening and how far they were in the process, except themselves. That's why GM was paying a lot of money for Project Manager and Project Director from the woodcutters' companies, who tried to explain to GM what was happening. GM did not understand exactly what the added value of the Project Director was, because the project Manager was able to do the job by himself, but it was not the only thing topic it did not understand.

At this point of the story, we have reached the point where time was going very short: winter time will be there in 20 days, only 3 weeks left. GM went home to have a rest for week-end, still hoping everything will be fine although all warning flag where vivid flashing red.

 

Chapter 5

Now, as it happens in stories, the next Monday morning was even worst, if possible, as the last Friday evening.

Thomas went to see GM to tell him they have met an issue: the ground was no longer the same as they went deeper in the forest. At the beginning it was flat and easy hard ground, the trucks were going fine. But now, as they started to enter the heart of the forest, they realized that there were downhill and uphill, that there was sticky and heavy mud everywhere, which they did not expect to find. The trucks that Thomas made GM buy at the beginning of the job were not powerful enough to climb uphill and the wheels were not adequate in mud, and the brakes were not matching the downhill constraints.

GM answered that this should have been foreseen before buying the trucks, but Thomas said that GM had not warned him about this, and that it was not described in the map. So close from the deadline of the project, GM has no other choice but to buy additional and more powerful trucks.

The very next day, Horatio came with the same story as Thomas had the day before: uphill, and downhill, and mud. GM started to become angry because the trucks Horatio made him buying were really the most expensive he was able to find. But Horatio had another request: no, the trucks are OK, but he need to buy stones to paved the roads, hundreds and hundreds of flat and expensive stones, which will be placed over the mud, to allow the trucks to make their way from the forest to the Tree storage houses, which, by the way, were still under construction as is the rule with Tree Storage houses.  

Of course, GM, was not looking for stones paved roads, he was looking for a complete cleaning of the forest to be able to expand his business. But Horatio told GM that stones and roads were absolute prerequisites, and GM bought the stones.

The very next day again, Bruce came with another story: he did no longer have firs trees or pines in the parcel of the forest he was cutting. Now, the trees were big oaks and old willows trees, and also very flexible bushes and groves. And neither his axes not his hatchets were able to cut the oaks, much too hard, nor the willows, having too many branches falling down to the ground, nor the bushes, much too flexible for the rigid axes nor the green groves on which the heavy hatchets had no action at all.

Hopeless, GM asked Bruce what was the solution. Bruce told him that the only solution was to use manual saws and manuals hedge trimmers, which all individual gardeners were using on a daily basis. They would need to do the job manually. And because the trucks were not fitted to load bushes and groves, nor oaks trees neither willows trees, they will also need to get rid manually of the trees once cut. And because the Tree Storage Houses were not designed for such trees, they would need again to store them manually in one place or another. That's why Bruce told GM that either he will invoice more money to GM, or, GM's own peoples will have to do the job manually by themselves.

This was Wednesday evening, and the week was not yet finished. GM was wondering what will happen to him on Thursday.

Well, no surprise, Thomas went back to GM office on Thursday (it seems to GM that Thomas was much more working in his own office that in the forest where the work was), with the same story: oaks instead of firs, willows instead on pines, and all these bushes everywhere. Same story, same answer again: you have to cut them down manually, and to find a way to take them in the storage house after that. And also, you will have to managed manually the thousands of the sheets which will be the result of this manual work, because nothing was ready for them: firs and pines have no sheets, and sheets cannot be handled in another way nut manually.

Next Friday came Horatio. No oaks, no willows, neither bushes. But Horatio had now chestnuts and ash trees and full areas of very flexible reeds. Heavy axes and rigid hatchets are not relevant tools to cut reeds. Again the same solution: cut them manually. And be careful, reeds sheets will cut your fingers so quickly and fiercely than you need extreme caution to handle them safely.

The only good new in this nightmarish week was that by chance came Saturday, and GM would have a rest and a fine meal too.

 

Chapter 6

After Saturday came Sunday, and that's how, on a shiny Sunday morning, after a good night's rest, GM thought about the situation. He felt he was now walking in an endless tunnel: GM could no longer see the entry point of the dark tunnel, neither the end of the tunnel. Two weeks were remaining before winter, and a big part of the forest was still there, with oaks, willow tree, ash tree, chestnuts, bushes and reed. And all these hidden uphill and downhill, mud everywhere.

Of course, GM had trucks of every size and features, big useless Tree Storage Houses where useless firs and pines were stored for a useless usage, and above all the shadow of an endless and manual work to cut the remaining trees with manual saws and hedge trimmers and to manually handle bundles and bundles of sheets.

So it was hopeless, and for the first time since the project started, GM took his horse to have a little ride in the countryside.

And as the horse felt GM was not right, the horse started to ask him questions.

You know, this is the way horses were in those days, they asked questions.

Thus GM told him the all story from beginning to end.

The horse went silence for a little while, thinking about this.

After a mile or two, the horse said to GM: "it's a faint recollection in me, but I have an idea. I know someone who may help you".

GM said "great, let us talk to him, whoever it is".

 

Chapter 7

Thus the horse took a little whistle from somewhere in the top of his mane, and blew three time on this whistle.

And soon, something appears in the sky, as if a fast moving cloud was coming toward them. They were hundreds and hundreds of birds flying to them after having heard the whistle blows.

And the horse told them the all story again from beginning to end, asking them if they knew a solution. But none of the birds knew.

"Ah, that's strange", said the horse. "Is the eagle there?"

No, the eagle wasn't there.

The horse had just finished to blow a fourth whistle blow when they saw a spike coming from the east. And as it came closer, all the birds and the horse and GM recognized the eagle.

The horse told him the all story again from beginning to end, and then asked him:

"Where were you when I blew the first whistle?

The eagle said: "I was flying over the long forgotten land of the stone ax."

And where were you when I blew the second whistle?

I was flying over the long forgotten land of the Bronze Ax.

And where you when I blew the third whistle?

I was flying over the Three Kingdoms of the Rigid Steel Axes and Heavy Steel Hatchets.

And where you when I blew the fourth whistle?

I was flying exactly over the new island of the Magical Chain Saw, very close to this place in fact, where the new woodcutters are creating a brand new way of cutting trees.

Ah, said the horse, thank you very much, that's what I was looking for. Can you bring GM to this island?

Of course, said the eagle, that's a pleasure for me, I will do more than that for him. All the more as this island is growing and growing larger every minute, the flight return to it will be shorter.

 

Chapter 8

Believe it or not, but that's how GM came to meet the fourth woodcutter of our story: a speaking horse's ride, four whistle blow and a gentle eagle.

This fourth woodcutter was a clever guy named Alan, who had a big knowledge in all existing woodcutting techniques for having been in the field for many and many years. In the past few decades, Alan had seen many and many failure of projects with the traditional heavy axes and rigid hatchets. Alan had also the insights that the customer's forests were about to change, and that more and more customers will be willing to have a full visibility of how their cutting works were going, and that more and more of them will be willing to do the cutting job by themselves if only it could prove easy and quick to do.

That's why Alan designed a new and better tool, with today's technologies, more flexible and very easy to handle, to address today's market needs. That's how Alan created what he called a Magical Chain Saw.

But that's another story to be told on another occasion. Let us go back to our current story.

 

Chapter 9

So, GM started to tell Alan the full story from beginning to end, but shortly before GM came to the middle of the story, Alan gave him a smile, and it happened than Alan was able to finished the story for GM. Because this story was a very well-known story in the woodcutting industry, it used to be happening like that everywhere since ages.

GM was dejected, downcast, depressed. He asked Alan: what can we do now?

And Alan told to GM:

"I have a solution. We will cut down the second half of your forest with my Chain Saw".

But GM started to say: but we have only 10 days left, and I do not have any money or time anymore for…

Alan stopped GM: "no, no, no trucks, no houses to store trees, no complete maps to draw from your mind. Only give me a starting point and main patterns, and we will do the job together in the two left weeks you have. My only wish is for you to bring me as soon as possible straight into in the forest. I do not want to lose too many hours in your office.

GM was quite surprised because Alan said he was willing to work very quickly into the forest, and also that he will do the job in 2 weeks, for the full second half of the forest. But GM had no choice left. The original project started 90 days ago, and in that time, business opportunities had still increased, and GM would have needed even more space to face the new challenge. Thus cutting down the second half of his forest was all right for him.

GM said : "I agree. When can we start?"

Alan said: "it's dawn by now, let us have the eagle rest for the night, and he will bring us to your land by tomorrow morning."

GM said: "but the eagle will not be able to carry both of us plus your axes and hatchets, or chain saw, whatever your call them."

Alan answered: "don't worry about that, it's a magical chain saw, we do not need to travel with it. But it's too late to explain it by now, you'll see on tomorrow. Have a good night."

 

Chapter 10

And the next morning, all happened exactly the way Alan said he would be.

They landed safely the next morning on GM's land, exactly in front of the second half of the forest were the job has to be done. They said thank you very much and goodbye to the eagle, who answered "my pleasure".

Now, to make a long story short, Alan and GM started to work together on cutting the tree on that very morning, after a short and focused meeting was held to decide on the main patterns of the task.

And all issues were solved as if a magical power was behind Alan.

To start with, Alan took a little silver key and a little golden ring from somewhere in the top of his shirt, and Alan said:

"Little silver key, little golden ring, get busy, take our fitting ax and matching chain saw from the cloudy sky, where all tools are as light and easy as feathers, and start cutting the trees".

GM was extremely surprised because he had never heard nor seen such a thing before, but immediately, a very easy to use and flexible set of chain saw and a bundle of nice fitted axes fall lightly and quickly from the cloudy sky.

And it was as if the chain saw and the axes were auto adapting themselves to the job which had to be done, and even working by themselves. Of course it was not really like this, because Alan was in command. But soon, and it was a surprise even bigger, GM realized that he himself was able to participate and that he was doing the job together with Alan; without having been trained to do the job. GM only had to think about what he was willing to do, and he KNEW how to achieve it!

So very quickly the first firs trees went down, then the first pines trees too. At this stage, it was really easy and immediate, but GM started to worry a little, because he realized that at this speed, the trees will very quickly create a huge pile of trunks, and the fallen tree will soon laid on the ground between them and the next trees, which would prevent them from cutting further in the forest. And Alan had not truck neither Tree Storage Houses with him.

He said this to Alan, who laughted: "that's a clever although non ethical old trick from old woodcutters to invoice you more money and increase their own margins. The woodcutters have also close relatives who are selling you trucks, and friends who are building the Tree Storage House".

GM said: "I know by now that they made a fool of me, but how do you solve this?".

Alan answered: "Your target is to cut down trees. I focused our work on your target, which is to cut trees, and I take care of the non-direct elements. When you ask for a lunch in a good restaurant, the host does not ask you to buy plates or glasses, nor fridges nor furnaces, neither to make the washing at the end of the lunch. You want to sit and enjoy your meal. That's the way it works with me too. Don’t worry".

 

Chapter 11

On this words, Alan took a little shovel and a little trowel from somewhere in the top of his shirt, and said "little shovel little trowel, get busy, take from the ground every tree we cut and store it in the cloudy sky, where all trees and branches are as light as feathers".

And so the little shovel and the little trowel did their job, and the job went well like this during the full day, and in the evening a huge lot of trees were cut and all of them were gone and stored somewhere in the cloudy sky above them. In the evening, the place was clean, and they had a rest for the night.

The next day they take a good breakfast. I don't know what it was, I don't know what they ate in those days to tell you the truth.

And they start to work again. And it wasn't long till they found that the flat and hard ground they have been working on the previous day was now changing to uphill and downhill and mud, even worse than the ones Thomas, Horatio and Bruce did met.

GM said to Alan: "I did not have time to warn you yet, because I have met these difficulties at a much later stage in my previous project".

Alan said: "don't worry, I am used to cope with these. Not a surprise to find them so soon after the start of the project because when you work into the forest from the very beginning, you are always facing the difficulties at an early stage. Which give you time enough to find proper solutions."

GM: "And I guess you have a solution for this too…"

Alan laughed again. He was a merry kind of a man. "Of course I have a solution".

So, Alan took a little gentle blue mouse and a nice blue smiling frog from somewhere in the top of his shirt and he said: "little mouse, little frog, get busy, make the ground as flat as the cloudy sky looks from here, and the mud as light as a feathers". And so went the little gentle blue mouse and the little blue smiling frog to help the little shovel and the little trowel to cut the trees.  

For the third time, GM recognized the magical words in Alan's mouth "cloudy sky, as light as feathers". And GM did worry a little because if this Tuesday was a cloudy morning, such as the previous Monday had been a cloudy day, but it was not always cloudy in his country. Thus he asked Alan: "does it work too on sunny days without clouds?"

Alan's laughed: "Yes of course, there are always clouds in the sky somewhere in some place or other in our earth's sky. The clouds are moving and are always available in a place or another. If not directly above your head, then they will be is the far east or in the far west, or a little higher in the north. Remember, the limit is the sky, and the sky has no limit when it comes in outer space."

After a nice lunch, they went to work again, and very soon the firs and pines were replaced by giants oaks and entangled willows, hard chesnuts and ash trees, bundles of bushes and sees of reeds.

 

Chapter 12

GM asked "what can we do now? Can we still use the same chain saws and axes to cut the bushes and the reeds as the ones we were using for the firs and the pines? Or will you use another magical trick of your own?"

Alan said "No, this time no other tricks, because our chain saws and axes can adapt themselves to the job they need to do, with the help of the blue mouse and of the blue frog. They will help us to think of another way to cut the trees, because the trees are not the same in all places. The tools have to adapt to your needs, not the other way round. But that's my turn to ask you a question: how would you solve this new challenge if you were alone?

GM was quite appalled: how could he know? But Alan's enthusiasm was contagious, so GM thought a little, and from what he had learned from the previous days, he said: "Well, I think I will try A or B, and if not, I will try C, or, finally, I will come back to you for a better solution!"

Alan laughted once more. "Excellent! B will work better in this situation, but A or C would have been potential alternatives. Yes, you have it by now, that's the trick. Be flexible, try, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, adapt yourself, our tools will always follow the path that your mind is himself following. And if still too tricky for you, my team or I will be there to find another solution.

That's how after five days of nice and pleasant work, the job was done, all of the trees were cut down, the second half of the forest was clean and ready.

GM has enough room and room to deploy his new business.

And more than that, because the business opportunities were even greater than he expected 95 days ago, he decided to finalized the pending job on the first half of the forest, in the three parcels where Thomas, Horatio and Bruce made him loose so many money, time, effort and hope.

Because of course, GM had cancelled the contracts of the three other woodcutters, Thomas, Horatio and Bruce, 5 days before the theoretical deadline. And he did use Alan's knowledge to finalize the unfinished job, which was cleanly done by the Thursday evening. One day before winter.

It is both a very happy time in this story and also a sad one, because we are coming close to the end of our story and I was delighted to tell it to you. But to the end we must go, so here it goes.

 

Chapter 13

Because GM had one spare day, he asked Alan to come on a horse ride on Friday. GM was eager to understand what was behind the magic. He wonder whether Alan will answered him, and explained him how it truly works. GM does not believe in magic but be believed in results and results he got!

Alan started to explain.

I now really must apologize for my little tricks: there is nothing magic behind that, only technology. Yes, in an way, I am a wizard as far as results are concerned and I you compare my results with the older woodcutters results – or rather failure. But for the tools and the technology, I am not a wizard, but a man who decided to use his brain instead of his muscles. 

GM said" why did you make it appear as magical? You should have told me the truth from the beginning"

Alan answered: I have tried many time with other peoples like you, but no one ever believe me. I have even tried with your purchasing department, your CFO and your CIO, but no one did believe me, so heavy is the weight pf the conventional wisdom.

You yourself have heard about it, and you have not recognized it was true bedore seing it.

GM said: but no one told it to me.

Alan said: the eagle told you the truth from the very beginning. And you did not see it.

GM jumped on his feet: The eagle?

Alan: Yes, do you remember where the eagle was on the first whistle blow from your horse?

GM: Well, I think he was over the land of Stone Ax.

Alan: Yes, and then, at the second blow?

GM: If I remember well, he was over the land of the Bronze Ax.

Alan: Right. And where was the eagle at the third whistle blow?

GM: He was the over the land of Steel Ax. But I do not understand how I could have guess from that point… Ohh.. I see now: evolution of technology. Stone Age, Bronze Age, Steel Age, and now Information Age.

Alan noded: yes, the eagle was telling you about time changes and the evolution of technology across time. The eagle came from the beginning of time, the beginning of his journey. And the closer the eagle came to you, the closer in time he was from you. The closest area was my island, which is growing everyday because new technologies always replace the old technology.

GM said: how have we been so blind?

Alan said: lot of factors where against you. Weight of habits first. And also the advertising skills from the Big Woodcutters companies and their intense networking activities. You have been lured by their names and fame, which date back to old ages and are no longer valid anymore. Fear too. Member in your team were perhaps afraid of the impact of a failure on their own career if they chose a new woodcutter. In case of a failure if they select a renowned woodcutters, it cannot be THEIR choice which was wrong, it was because of the woodcutter.

Need to control and fear of the unknown. Alternatives are everywhere around you, and 9 out of 10 are dead-end and blind alley. And the one which truly works is a big jump ahead, the truly clever technological advance. But because the jump is so big over the Gap between what you know before and what we offer, it's hard to believe that it is true. If we had offered a less fundamental change, say a 15% or 20% time or cost reduction, it might have been easier to believe. But an 80% time and cost reduction is too big a difference for you to believe in. You are suspicious, and because you need to control everything as much as possible, you'd rather listened to those who are there from a longer time.

 

Conclusion: behind the magic

GM: What was your core idea?

Alan: The Occam principle. I wanted to get rid of everything which was useless for your project. I take care of all the aspects which are not directly liked to your project, I put in my basket all the burden tasks which add no value to your job but which add margin to the traditional woodcutters.

You needed to cut trees and to clean a forest. That was your project.

You never asked to buy trucks, thus I created a model where no trucks are necessary.

You never asked for a Tree Storage House, thus I take the burden on my shoulders too.

And you were, you are and you will never be able to describe nor to draw a detailed map of something you have never seen nor experience earlier. That's utterly not possible. My model allows you to start with the mains patterns, it gives flexibility.

Heavy axes and rigid hatchets were fine to deal with the known and with past, with feature which are already known. But you cannot work in a project involving the unknown future with rigid tools which are defined a priori. That's pure nonsense because by definition and by essence, cutting a forest means going into the unknown.

GM: I also have a pool to develop, and a mountain to dig gold gallery mine into, and a river to clean before creating a salmon's nursery. Would your model work in those different environments?

Alan: yes, and this is the beauty and the magic of my model. Because it is based on flexibility, it will address all your issues, even it they are fully different from woodcutting in content, the structure is the same: start from assumptions to reach a target, be able to face unexpected difficulties of any kind you may meet during the project, be flexible.   

GM: I will talk to it to my friends, of course. How do you name your model?

Alan: Your Universal Solution.

And this is the end of my little fairy tale, and I hope your enjoyed it.

I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Michel.