A company was working to build a revolutionary machine to build bridges. They spent a bunch of money designing and developing it until finally it was ready for the first field-test, but during the field-test the machine failed and fell into a chasm. So they rented a crane, drove it out to the chasm, winched up the machine, and then started to fix it at great cost and delay.
The CEO called a meeting and told everyone that this mistake was really costly, they needed to find a solution. The lead engineer said he thought he could fix it if they used higher-quality steel for the machine.
Several weeks later it was ready for the next field test, but yet again, the machine failed and fell into the chasm. So they rented a crane, drove it out to the chasm, winched up the machine, and then started to fix it at great cost and delay.
The CEO called another meeting and let everyone know that this was terrible, the company was in a bad situation, and they needed a solution. One of the software programmers spoke up and said that he felt the algorithms used to navigate across the chasm were faulty, and he would work on a fix. Several weeks later it was ready for the next field test, but yet again, the machine failed and fell into the chasm. So they rented a crane, drove it out to the chasm, winched up the machine, and then started to fix it at great cost and delay.
The CEO called another meeting, and he was livid. This was the last chance that they had, and if they couldn't fix it he'd have to shut the whole thing down. Everyone was silent as they racked their brains until finally, the head accountant spoke up. "I know what we can do! We'll buy our own crane!"