They got their ladders and tape measures and went out to the flagpole. Howerver, the measurement job had turned out to be a much more difficult task than any of them had imagined, with some of them falling off the ladders, some dropping their tape measures and so on, and the whole thing had just turned into a total mess. 

After a while, an engineer happened along and saw what they were attempting to do. She walked over, pulled the flagpole out of the ground, and laid it flat on the ground. She measured it from end to end, gave the measurement to one of the managers and then walked away without saying a word. 

After the engineer had gone, one manager turned to another and laughed as he's shaking his head. "Now that's just like an engineer! We're looking for the height and she gives us the length!"