A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:
This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you
for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that
we have a tradition in our family of ice cream for dessert after
dinner each night.
But the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten,
the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I
drive down to the store to get it.
It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since
then my trips to the store have
created a problem. You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice cream,
when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any
other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine.
I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how
silly it sounds: "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not
start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get
any other kind?"
The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter,
but sent an engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised
to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine
neighborhood.
He had arranged to meet the man just after dinnertime, so the two
hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla
ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they
came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The engineer returned for
three more nights.
The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second
night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered
vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being a logical
man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla
ice cream.
He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took
to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: he
jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to
drive back and forth etc. In a short time, he had a clue: the man took
less time to
buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout
oft he store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a
separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the
other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different
counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.
Now, the question for the engineer was why the car wouldn't start when
it took less time.
Once time became problem - not the vanilla ice cream, the engineer
quickly came up with the answer: "Vapor lock". It was happening every
night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the
engine to cool down sufficiently to start.
When the man got vanilla, the engine was still to hot for the vapor
lock to dissipate.
Remember: Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all
problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution with a cool
thinking.
Don't just say its "IMPOSSIBLE" without putting a sincere effort...
Observe the word "IMPOSSIBLE" carefully... You can see "I'M
POSSIBLE"...
What really matter is your attitude and your perception |
