Fable
The Idle Mill and the Courier Station with Runners
At the foot of the mountain there was a water mill. As long as the sluice gate was opened, the wooden wheel would turn and the millstone would grind wheat. The craftsman cared about whether there was enough water, whether the gears were oiled, whether the millstone would jam, and whether the bag opening was tied tightly. No one in the mill made decisions; wheat went in through the entrance and flour came out through the exit.
There was also a courier station in town, where several runners lived. Every day the runners went out with commissions: to the money house to collect accounts, to the warehouse to count goods, to the county office to deliver documents. Sometimes they had to dig through old files, sometimes borrow a horse, sometimes ask the proprietor whether the seal could be used, and they also had to bring back new news heard along the way. The courier station was much livelier, and much more troublesome.
The new steward called both places "the place where operations happen." He gave the mill a new water channel and then managed the post station the same way: only checking whether the roof leaked, whether the horse troughs were full, and whether the door locks were sturdy. As a result, in the first week, the courier sent out an unstamped document and brought account books he should not have seen back to the post station.
The steward was very confused. When a mill had trouble, it was usually a broken gear, too little water, or a crooked millstone; when a post station had trouble, it might be a runner mishearing a request, taking the wrong key, misremembering an old account, overstepping authority to make a decision for the shopkeeper, or treating something heard along the way as an order. Both places needed buildings and tools, but the post station had people who could act.
He first thought of adding sturdier doors and windows to the post station. Once the doors and windows were fixed, the couriers still brought people who should not be admitted into the accounts room. He then numbered each horse, but the couriers could still ride the right horse to the wrong place. The problem lay in how couriers received tasks, how they retrieved materials, how they used seals, and when they stopped to ask for instructions.
Later the manager kept separate registers for the mill and the post station. The mill register recorded water, wheels, millstones and entry and exit points; the post station register, besides buildings and horses, also recorded the source of commissions, key permissions, storage of old files, departure records, reporting methods and prohibitions when no one was there at night. Each runner also had to report what he had used when he returned.
From then on there were far fewer misunderstandings in the town. The mill needed an environment that could keep the machine turning steadily, and the post station needed an environment that could constrain the actions of the runners. As long as someone goes out to do things for you, you cannot ask only whether the house is stable; you must also ask what he can bring, what he records, what he touches, and to whom he reports when he encounters difficulties.