Once upon a time, the government owned a massive junkyard out in the middle of a desert.
One day, Congress got concerned. “What if someone tries to steal from it at night?” they wondered. So, they created a night watchman position and hired someone to keep an eye on things.
Then someone asked, “But how will the watchman know what to do?” That led to the creation of a Planning Department, where two people were hired—one to write detailed instructions and another to conduct efficiency studies.
A few weeks later, a new concern arose: “How do we know the watchman is actually doing his job?” So, they set up a Quality Control Division and hired two more people—one to analyze performance and another to document everything in official reports.
Then came another question: “How are we supposed to pay all these people?” To solve that, they established a Payroll Department, adding a timekeeper and an accountant to handle salaries.
But that raised a new issue: “Who is going to manage this growing team?” Naturally, they created an Administrative Division, adding three more hires: an Administrator, an Assistant Administrator, and a Legal Secretary.
A year later, Congress took a look at the budget and realized they were $18,000 over their limit. Their solution? Fire the night watchman.