A Consultant without Up-to-Date Knowledge Is Like "the Emperor's New Clothes"
A century ago Hans Christian Andersen told a memorable fairy tale about an Emperor loved to show off his clothes. He was extremely vain.
One day two scoundrels appeared before the Emperor, and said,
"We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality."
Intrigued, the Emperor ordered a new suit made of this wonderful cloth. But when it came time to dress him in it, the Emperor wasn't willing to admit that he couldn't see the material -- and he was relieved that none of his courtiers seemed to notice. Of course, they didn't want to admit to stupidity, either.
When people saw the Emperor without clothes, they weren't brash enough to voice their thoughts. But inwardly they had doubts. When he paraded his new outfit before his subjects in the square, none of them would admit to stupidity, either. "Look at the Emperor's new clothes," his subjects said. "They're beautiful!"
A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage. "The Emperor is naked," he said.
The boy's remark was repeated over and over again by the bystanders until everyone cried: "The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"
Only the Emperor was too vain to admit the truth.
Consultants who aren't up-to-speed on e-commerce can be very much like the foolish Emperor in his new clothes.
Consultants
Are you an Internet Consultant? Maybe you're from Ernst & Young, or PriceWaterhouseCooper, or one of the other Big Five. A number of our subscribers hail from prestigious consulting firms.
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Embarrassing Dreams
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