Tale of a job…
I want to tell you a story
The first guy, we will call Nic. Nic is a big guy and he can do the “generic” job. Nic is reliable, consistent, and if you treat him right he is a gentle giant. But when you make Nic mad then you need a couple of bodyguards to control him. When you don’t, something bad can happen. Now the thing with Nic is that he had to pay a lot to get to where he is but his work is the cheapest. Also because you only need one Nic you can provide him with an apartment on site.
The second guy is actually two guys: Sam and Wayne, inseparable twin brothers. Sam and Wayne are both small, scrawny guys and in order to do the job of Nic you need 10 Sam and Wayne’s together. But Sam and Wayne are cheap, and they do not need a lot of training, it is easy to get them working but, because you need 10 pairs of them you cannot provide accommodation on site, so each twin needs to find accommodation somewhere in town. So far so good. But here is the problem, you see Sam and Wayne are now a Union, and because traffic is bad you cannot guarantee that all 10 the twin’s will be on-site every day. Traffic is unpredictable and thus you need backup, conservatively you need at least 50 pairs of brothers. Still, you can have days where only 1 Sam and Wayne combo shows up or all 50 can show up. And remember because they are a union if they pitch up, you have to pay them, all of those who pitched up. Meaning, if you only need 10 Sam and Waynes you still pay for all 50, every day. And remember you have to produce the job every day.
To keep your production up you need backup, so let’s call him Barry. Barry is a fat dude who is expensive, he needs to eat a lot before he can work and even then only for a short period of time before he needs to eat again. Barry’s food is the “job”, so if there is no job being done then, whether Barry is there or not he cannot work if he hasn’t eaten.
Alternatively, we can use Garry, Garry is a hyperactive energizer bunny. He can start quickly and he can eat on the job but if he is not eating on the job he stops working. He is cheap but he also leaves a mess, does not save, and comes with all kinds of strings attached and his price fluctuates. So you can easily have to pay double one day, then half the next. The problem with Garry also is he needs to be constantly on the job every day, you pay him whether he is working or not. So if 1 Ryan shows up you get your money’s worth. If 10 or more show up you still have to pay him.
There is one more guy I want to talk about, Chris. Chris, like Nic, is a big guy and he has been around the block a few times. He does not have an explosive temper like Nic but, where Nic is clean, Chris is a dirty, stinking worker. He is essential so we tolerate him. But the problem with Chris is no one wants to work with him because he is so dirty. Chris has cleaned up, and he has done the job for decades longer than anyone else but his ways haven’t changed much.
Now let’s imagine you are starting a new business and have this job. Who are you going to employ? Nic, Sam and Wayne with Barry or Garry, or just Barry, or just Garry or just Chris? And why?
Author
Chief Nuclear Scientist
The Thorium Network
