Again, good leaders make sure their instructions are clearly understood:

A plumber in New York wrote to the Bureau of Standards in Washington. He said that he found hydrochloric acid was great for cleaning drains, but was it safe? A bureaucrat answered: ‘The efficacy of hydrochloric acid is indisputable, but the chlorine residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.’

The plumber replied that he was glad that Washington thought he was right. He got another reply: ‘We cannot assume responsibility for the production of toxic and noxious residues with hydrochloric acid.’ Right, the plumber answered, it’s good stuff!

Finally, the Bureau sent the plumber a note saying what it had meant to say all along: ‘Don’t use hydrochloric acid; it eats the hell out of the pipes!’

Dorothy Leeds

Dorothy Leeds, PowerSpeak, 1988, London: Piatkus, p.97