Pictured here are two of my direct reports participating in a competitive relay race held yesterday during my annual All-Hands Engineering meeting. The exercise was designed to illuminate a distinct preference at iRobot for clever engineering over flawless execution. I believe the point could not have been illustrated more dramatically despite great furor over interpretation of the specifications. A large contingent of participants felt that a totally legal solution to the constraints listed below was to skewer the soccer ball (a grapefruit, in this case) with duct tape covered rope and drag it behind them with the rope affixed to their hips.

You will be dribbling a “soccer ball” which may look more like a fruit.
Each team will be provided a roll of duct tape and a length of rope.
Only the duct tape may contact the ball (non-sticky side).
Only the rope or ball may contact the duct tape.
The rope may be attached to the participant but never touch their hands, arms, feet, legs, or head.

The debate centered on the interpretation of the word “dribbling”. Many felt that the contents of the grapefruit oozing from the puncture points constituted dribbling while I only permitted the Merriam-Webster definition pertaining to soccer: to propel by successive slight taps or bounces.