The "I" In Team

A certain monk was known throughout the Temple for his humility. When discussing flaws in his clan’s software he always took personal responsibility, yet when receiving praise for marvelous features crafted by him alone, he always gave credit to the entire team. Eventually word of the monk came to old Jinyu, Abbess Over All Clans And Concerns.

“So,” she said to her chief abbot, “this monk says I failed after the defeats of others, and we triumphed after his own victories?”

“So it is said throughout the Temple,” said the abbot.

“Bring him to me,” commanded Jinyu.

When this was done, Jinyu surprised all in attendance by striking the monk with her cane and sentencing him to thirty days’ hard labor in the data mines. After the stunned monk had been taken away the abbot nervously approached Jinyu to inquire the reason.

Jinyu struck the abbot. “Fool! Consider the monk’s algorithm. When he says I failed, what is most probably the truth?”

“That others have failed,” said the abbot, flinching.

Jinyu struck him again. “And when the monk says we triumphed, what does he most likely mean?”

“That victory was his alone,” said the abbot, wincing in pain.

The ancient priestess twirled her cane overhead, so fast that the very air whined in anguish, until with a thunderclap she brought it down hard on the floor in front of the terrified abbot. “The only thing praiseworthy about this boastful monk is that he has mastered the art of one-to-one mapping. Meanwhile, what am I to do with the rest of you idiots? You were deceived by a simple substitution cipher that your brains had already decoded.”