Fun_People Archive
10 Jun
A Poem to Express for Success

Date: Thu, 10 Jun 93 02:30:02 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: A Poem to Express for Success

 From: Keith Bostic <bostic@vangogh.CS.Berkeley.EDU>

Nay, lad! *Deciding's* not your ploy,
For that's a risky game.
It's *making a decision*
That's your surest road to fame.

Decide means to take action,
And actions rock the boat,
And if you act and don't succeed,
Small chance you'll stay afloat.

But... making a decision,
Ah! that's the way to swing.
It keeps the masses happy
And doesn't change a thing.

So get yourself a task force
Well skilled in all the arts
And call them all together
And watch them flip their charts.

For Jack says no and Jim says yes
And Billy says perhaps
And Chester asks good questions
... When he isn't taking naps.

And Bertram, chomping his cigar,
Is chock full of statistics,
While Waldemar, who puffs a pipe,
Is famed for his heuristics.

"The figures prove --" "The model says --"
"The forecast bears me out."
"The complex simplex program
Shows I'm right without a doubt."

Let's tiptoe out and close the door
And let them stew a while.
No fear that they'll do something rash,
for *doing's* not their style.

Reality's an untamed beast
That's difficult to master,
But models are quite docile
And give you answer faster.

So diddle with a model
To glorify your name,
Then get yourself a task force
And learn to play the game.

© 1993 Peter Langston