how many people does it take to change a light bulb?

This has been the beginning to many a cheesy, corny joke for quite some time. There are many variations, but the premise is the ludicrous nature of the idea of it taking more than one person to complete a task so simple as changing a light bulb. However, based on what I have observed recently, I'm pretty sure the ridiculousness is no longer in the thought of it taking multiple people to complete simple tasks, but in the reality that it does. Confused? Let me explain. Over the last few weeks, I observed the installation of an electrically operated gate at work. The task of installing a gate and making it operational seems like a simple enough task. I figured it would take a few guys. I was way off. Let me list the people who worked on the gate:

• ~ 3 guys from the excavating company - These guys dug holes in the ground for additional electrical pipes to be run to the gate's power supply and dug a trench for the gate to fit more appropriately when opened.
• ~ 1 guy from the steel company - This guy dropped off the gates at the facility.
• ~ 6 guys from the steel fence company - These guys hung the steel gates, ensuring that they worked mechanically.
• ~ 3 guys from the electrical company - These guys ran power from the facility's main power supply to the fence power supplies.
• ~ 3 guys from the gate company (separate from the fence company) - These guys put the gates on the chains and made them function electronically.
• ~ 2 guys from the security company - These guys connected wires to the guard shack for the buttons to open and close the gates.

By my count (if anything it's lower than actual, not higher) there were 18 guys representing 6 different subcontracting companies involved in the installation of electronically controlled gates...18! I cannot believe that it should take 18 guys from 6 companies for me to have security gates (not including manufacturing). What made it worse is that 1 company made a mistake. In order to fix the mistake, multiple companies had to return to undo their work as well. The other thing that makes this story worse is that it's only one example of many I can site. This is the new norm. Gone are the days of Mr. Fix-It Handyman types. Everyone has his/her specialty and does nothing else. So, that brings us back to our opening question: how many people does it take to change a light bulb? Well, based on my observations, I would guess about at least 10 representing 8 companies:

• 1 guy from the light bulb company: This guy would drop off the light bulb to the light bulb handling company representative.
• 2 guys from the ladder company: One guy would expertly set up a ladder. The other would hold the ladder for everyone climbing it.
• 1 guy (shut off specialist) from the electric company: This guy would shut off power to the location.
• 1 guy from the light bulb removal company: This guy would remove the bad light bulb.
• 1 guy from the trash removal company: This guy would receive the bad bulb to be thrown away.
• 1 guy from the light bulb handling company: This guy would hand the new bulb to the guy from the installation company.
• 1 guy from the light bulb installation company: This guy would install the new light bulb.
• 1 guy (turn on specialist) from the electric company: This guy would turn on power to the location.
• 1 guy from the light switch company: This guy would flip the light switch on.

Finally, the contracting company would come and have each person go through exactly what they did, it would be signed off on and they'd wait until the next blown bulb. What ever happened to the good old days when 1 person really could change a light bulb?