We Just Put Up The Tent

Posted on 2003/03/13 14:25:58 (March 2003).

I was working at the BBC today. After I'd finished everything I needed to do, I was taken to the exit by one of the BBC's engineers. He was making idle conversation about the many echelons of organisation within the BBC, which I guess applies to just about any large broadcaster. Whilst explaining how it all works, he came up with a really nice metaphor. I'm paraphrasing slightly, but here goes: "It's like a circus, but we're not the clowns and we don't do any tightrope walking. We just put up the tent." The more I think about this, the more I like it - it actually works pretty well as a general metaphor for any engineering discipline. Although I think he meant it as a joke, it feels oddly profound to me. Thanks, Mr. BBC Engineer.

My sister teaches the clowns how to act like muppets.

Posted by Rob Lang at 2003/05/21 11:52:42.

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