[mnehring]

An engineer will answer that question in two seconds with "3 and a half minutes". And that is the right answer, because it is delivered in two seconds, and it is pretty darn close.

A consultant would say this question does not have all the necessary information because of missing variables such as how well the two people work together, the overlap variable, the car was supply limitations if two people are using the same supplies.. etc.. You'll need to pay a consultant about $75 an hour to calculate in all those factors.

[Ichneumon]

A consultant would say this question does not have all the necessary information because of missing variables such as how well the two people work together, the overlap variable, the car was supply limitations if two people are using the same supplies.. etc.. You'll need to pay a consultant about $75 an hour to calculate in all those factors.

Actually, you make a profound point. There's a *classic* book which covers this topic (and others) called "The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering", by Frederick P. Brooks. He points out that real-world projects seldom work out as neatly as implied by "man-month" calculations and other common management concepts, precisely because of complicating factors such as the ones you mention.

As he says by way of illustration, "it takes nine months to produce a baby, no matter how many women are assigned to the task."