Relevance

Is it a fair question to ask? Is what you are doing relevant. Last night I was reading a book called FutureThink and there was an anecdote in there that made me think about relevance, as well as tradition and resistance to change. An American officer was observing a British Artillery battery training on maneuvers, just before WWII. He noticed that the battery had seven men, six men were fully engaged in activity and the seventh man stood at attention the whole time, The American officer asked his British counterpart what he was doing and he answered that he did not know why he was standing at attention but he would find out. The next day he told the American officer that he had had found out and that the seventh man had held the horses! Are you standing at attention waiting for the horses?