by Jeremy Starr

Created on: May 05, 2010

There once was a remote village in need of water. Many villagers had explored the surrounding territory and a few had even found water before, but those sources were the known sources, and they were drying up. One day, while on a trek, one villager overheard people from a competing village talking about a large spring in a valley, but he didn’t recognize the name of the valley because it was the name used by the other village. He reported this to the elders and they reported it to the chief and the chief appointed a leader and made the leader accountable to find the spring in the valley at once.

Naturally, the appointed leader was a senior villager with much experience trekking in the surrounding territory, and a track record of participation on previous successful missions to find water. He assembled a team consisting of some elders, and many younger villagers. The chief felt this mission was vitally important to the preservation of the village so, to ensure success, he appointed his brother-in-law to the team to oversee and report on their progress and morale, and to ensure that trades made en route were advantageous to the village.

After a three day ritual for good luck, the team set off into the forest. Along the way they discussed strategy. Quickly they agreed that because valleys are low lying, any uphill paths should be avoided to minimize unproductive treks. Furthermore, the team members were confident that, although the highest mountain was no obstacle for them, the competing village was weak and certainly could not have found water in the mountains. In any case, the downhill paths would be faster to explore so progress would be quicker as well. With this clearly articulated path forward, the team was confident of its timely success.

The leader dispatched his first report to the chief: “Great progress, we’ve already ruled out the highlands, and are making good progress following the downhill paths.” Not quite sure if he trusted the report, the chief consulted his brother-in-law’s accompanying report: “Team morale is high, consensus reached around winning strategy.” Bolstered by the good news, the chief gave the villagers extra rations of water at the dinner feast, then retired to his private bath for a long soak.

On the next day, the team encountered a fork, but, unlike previous ones, both paths went uphill. To address this unanticipated development the team decided to invest one day in rebuilding their strategy.

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