Idont Have To Be The Fastest Just Faster Than You

Two strangers were out backpacking in the woods. They came upon each other and decided to walk the next bit together. Around a bend in the trail they came face to face with a bear. One stranger drops to his knee, fetches his running shoes from his backpack and begins the removing his hiking boots. The other stranger just stares and says, "There is no way you can run faster than that bear."

The kneeling stranger stands up and replies, "I don't have to be faster than the bear. I only have to be faster than you."

I wish I could remember who told me that joke. Anyway this always seemed like a Dilbertism for SurvivingGuruStatus. On Wiki you can go to the authors name and look at how many pages they are "on".

Seems we could apply this in competitive software development, too.

We discovered (in a mental exercise, not from experience!) that that little anecdote does not apply to sharks/barracuda and skin diving. The shark/barracuda is so much faster than the swimmers that it can circle several times and even take taste tests before it decides. This is surely a metaphor for something in our profession.

Having been rushed underwater by a bull seal, I can assure you that this is true of almost everything in the water, not just sharks and barracudas. It surprises one how fast something the size of a small car can move. Note to self: do not get between bull seal and its herd.

[Second lesson: Never go out into the "tame wild" unarmed. I would much rather they fear me than respect me. Failing that, I want to render them inconsequential.]

Note that the best solution for the second hiker is to clobber the first hiker over the head, then run away, boots or not. I'll be faster than you even with a broken leg if I first render you incapable of moving.

Perhaps this is related to PrisonersDilemma?

See: WhatIsTheWaterStrategyOfaFish, AsFastAsNecessary

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