Dig a Hole, Move the Pole

In case you haven’t heard it, here is a common anecdote told when people reach an impasse concerning two plausible solutions for one problem:

Two engineering teams, one from the United States and the other from India, were given a problem. The problem concerned simply two poles and the loose wire which connected them. Both teams were told to remove the slack from the wire.

The Americans kept both poles in the ground, cut the wire loose, and retied it. By discarding the excess length, the slack was removed.

The Indian team dug a hole, removed a pole from the ground, and moved the pole into the new hole. This removed the slack as well, but it accomplished something else – it kept the entire wire in tact.

The Indian team is correct. The American team burnt a bridge by cutting the wire, whereas the Indian team planned for the future by leaving as much of the original setup intact.

Though there are often two or more acceptable solutions to a problem, one is usually better.