Fishing & Estimating

An analogy can be made between fishing and estimating but is only close
to accurate if you start with an estimator that is blind, confined to a
wheel chair, and has heavy reliance on the quality of their bait and
talismans.

Blind not only because it hardly matters that you cannot see below the
surface of the water, but that without being able to ignore the
distracting signals and focus on the quarry you have no chance of
success. The blind generally are known to hear and feel better than the
seeing and are therefore better at overcoming the obstacles when
fishing.

Confined to a wheel chair -- all an estimator usually does is sit on
shore, act out a complicated series of mathematical conjuring, make a
calculated prediction, then wave their hands around in the air, kiss
their jewels, throw out a handkerchief and hope the fish are biting.
That is, unless they use dynamite and pay for their dinner up front. Or
know the going price beforehand.

When a young estimator starts out in their career they have a meager
collection of bait and talismans at their disposal but an obvious
eagerness to jump in the lake and grab the fish bare handed. The panfish
are too quick to scurry, and the large fish stay secure in their depths
– where only the best of conjuring can stir them to rise. Often the
young estimator comes up with used tires, but as well their collection
of bait and talismans improves over time.

When arriving at the fishing hole and finding fifty-five other fishermen
already stationed is it sensible to fish in the same location? This is
called public bidding where everyone joins in the fray, a result of the
assembly line commodity mind-set applied to the building process. There
is a proliferation of people wading around with axe handles -- I’ve seen
cannon used to clear the field. The main problem here, since only the
lowest bid counts, is to identify and stay away from the guy who is
pissing in the lake. It helps an estimator to have a predilection to
isolation, a streak of contrariness to go fishing in a remote pond where
the fish are not so weary of getting hit with axe handles. This is
called selecting your niche and limiting the field.

The best situation is when your ability to conjure is refined enough
that you can call up your best buddy and ask them to bring over a bucket
of fried catfish.

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][<en Follett
SOS Gab & Eti -- http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/5836