Information Systems
College of Business Administration
University of Missouri - St. Louis

Bob and John

Bob and John were assigned to mow the grass on two different hills. Bob attempted to mow the grass in one day while John broke the hill into 4 parts and mowed the hill one section per day for 4 days. Bob had gotten half way through mowing his hill and his lawnmower overheated and broke down. He took his mower to the lawnmower repair shop and was told it would take 2 weeks to repair it. By that time, the grass that he already mowed would have grown back. The grass he didn't mow would be double in length. Meanwhile, John mowed his hill one section at a time for 4 days and finished the hill within a week.


Moral: The morale of the story is to realistically assess your limits or the limits of your tools and to plan by breaking a problem down into smaller, more manageable steps.


These stories are adapted examples written in my class, IS 6840 (formerly MSIS 488).
© Vicki L. Sauter. All rights Reserved.


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© Vicki L. Sauter. All rights Reserved.