Once upon a time there was a shepherd looking after his sheep who are grazing along the edge of a deserted road. Suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee screeches to a halt next to him. The driver, a young man dressed in a Brioni suit, Cerutti shoes, Ray-Ban glasses, Jovial Swiss wrist-watch and a BHS tie gets out and asks the shepherd:

"If I correctly guess how many sheep you do have, will you give me one of them?"

The shepherd looks at the young man, then looks at the sheep which are grazing and says:

"All right then, tell me how many sheep I have."

The young man parks the car, connects his notebook computer and the mobile-fax, enters a NASA site, scans the ground using his GPS system, opens a database and various Excel tables filled with algorithms, then prints a long report on his high-tech portable printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says:

"You have exactly 1586 sheep here."

The shepherd answers:

"That's correct, you can have your sheep."

The young man takes the sheep and puts it in the back of his jeep. The shepherd looks at him and asks:

"If I can correctly identify your profession, will you return my sheep to me?"

The young man responds:

"Yes, why not?"

The shepherd says:

"You are clearly a consultant!"

"How did you know that?" asks the young man.

"Very simple," answers the shepherd.

"Firstly, you came here without being called.

Secondly, you charge me fees to tell me something I already knew.

Thirdly, you clearly do not understand any thing about my business, because you have just taken my dog!"