A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below.
He descended a bit more, and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The woman replied, “You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet about the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”
“Thank you. You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist.
“I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything that you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is that I am still lost.”
The engineer responded, “You must be in management.”
“Yes, I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know that?”
“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are, or, where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect the people beneath you to solve your problems. The reality is that you are in exactly the same position that you were in before we met, except now, somehow, it’s my fault.”
