For weeks before Columbus discovered the new world, some members of his crew kept telling him, "Turn back before we run out of food and perish! Turn back before we are attacked by sea monsters! Turn back before we sail off the edge of the earth!"

There was a name for those people -- we would call them today "Consultants."

Now, obviously, I am in for making a little fun as we begin today -- but all for a purpose. I hope you will see it. Recently I came across a report of a Consultant. The title of the report was "How to Be Efficient with Fewer Violins." The consultant was a work-study engineer and he made his report after a visit to a symphony concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London:

"For considerable periods the four oboe players had nothing to do. The number should be reduced and …