Wan’s Corner Cheese Market

The Kingdom of Wan was obsessive about studying the heavens. Over centuries they contemplated the motions of the celestial bodies and came up with many theories about the rules governing these seemingly unvarying motions. As their theories about celestial mechanics improved, they were able to predict the cycles of the sun, moon, and seasons, which allowed them to create some very useful calendars. As the years passed, their predictions got better and better, though never perfect.

One day the Wans decided that they knew enough about the heavenly motions to try a trip to the moon to see what it was made of. They performed a set of calculations based on their theory of the forces governing the universe and fired off a rocket with one brave Wan aboard. Their ship made it to the moon and back again. Their calculations didn’t produce perfect results, but were useful enough for a successful trip.

The Wans discovered that the moon was made of an incredibly delicious cheese and set up an immensely successful business as cheese importers. Their subsequent trips to the moon to harvest the cheese became increasingly accurate and economical as they refined their theory and methods.

Unlike the Kingdom of Wan, the Kingdom of Naw took little interest in the heavenly motions. They were happy to copy the Wan calendars and put them to good use, but they were a results-oriented society and regarded any preoccupation with lofty theoretical matters as largely a waste of time and resources. But their society was focused on the bottom-line so, when they saw the business success of the Wan cheese operation, they were determined not be left behind.

The Naws had a spy in the Kingdom of Wan who managed to get into the Wan laboratory and steal the Wan moon-shot data. The Naws copied the Wan data and procedures with the greatest of care, but when they launched their moon-shot it flew off into the void, never to be seen again. Several times again, they tried stealing the Wan’s data in order to do a moon shot. They improved their spying protocols, data acquisition abilities, and the accuracy of their copying, but to no avail. Every time they attempted another moon-shot, their ship flew off into the void.

The Wans sent a kind letter of regrets to the Naws. The Wans understood all too well and whispered to each other, “How could they know?”

“We must be guided by theory” because “There is no knowledge without theory”.
W.E. Deming