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By Root 806 0

all start writing. "We found three mechanisms to put safety in. Now it seems that we also found three mechanisms to waste that safety. One we called the student syndrome, there is no rush so start at the last minute. The second is multi-tasking. The third involves the dependencies between steps; these dependencies cause delays to accumulate and advances to be wasted.

"Which brings us to your next assignment. This time it's simple, so I don't expect any misunderstanding. I want you to submit an example for each of the three mechanisms that people use to add safety, and for each of the three mechanisms people use to waste the safety. The examples should be taken from your reality and must, I repeat, must be numerical."

Chapter 14

I'm waiting to go into the dean's office. This meeting is a formality, and in general, I hate formalities, but not this one. This one took me over nine years to reach.

Two weeks ago, the last committee approved me for tenure. Finally. Now the dean has to sign, and then the president. They are rubber stamps. Our dean has a custom of meeting with every approved candidate personally. To show interest, to give a pep talk, to . . . I don't know what. So here I am, with my best tie on.

I'm shown in. Dean Christopher Page II shakes my hand and guides me to a chair. It's the first time I've been in this office, but I've heard a lot about it. Thick carpet, beautifully framed paintings. Not exactly my taste, but here they fit. Nice furniture. Not just nice, comfortable.

Then I notice that he isn't smiling. That's not like him.

"I'm afraid I have bad news for you," I hear him say. The rest comes to me as if through a fog.

"The business school is not going to give tenure for a while. . . . Not to anybody, no exceptions."

"Yes, I know what a good teacher you are."

"What can we do? It's the global strategy."

"Jim Wilson talked to me, but you must understand, it's not in my hands."

"Sorry, but no. There will be no extensions. Not even for one year."

"The president is absolutely firm. I'm afraid it's final." "All I can do is give you a very good reference letter. You deserve it."

Thanks a lot.

I don't see anybody as I go back to my office. Strange, but only one thought keeps booming in my head, "Will Judith leave me?"

I lock my door, sit at my desk, and try to assess my situation. I'm too upset.

Two hours later I reach for the phone and call Phil, an old buddy. We studied together. He has tenure at a private college, where the pay is much better. I must explore the alternatives.

"Phil, is there an opening at your college?"

"Sure there is. But Rick, you should have applied five years ago, when I begged you to."

"Forget the past. What do I have to do to apply now?"

"It won't help," comes the discouraging answer.

"What do you mean ‘it won't help'? Do you have an opening or not?"

"Of course we have. The pressure here is immense. But Rick, listen to me. They are not hiring people like you anymore. The market is full of people who teach business."

"I'm a very good teacher."

"I know, but Rick, that's not the point. Today they either hire full professors for the image, or adjunct professors. And for those they only take people with years of field experience. You don't stand a chance."

No, I don't. Three more phone calls, to friends in state and community colleges, clarifies it for me. I missed the train. I'm thrown out of academia with no way back. And for what? I still don't understand it.

Maybe Judith is right. Maybe it's time for me to make some money, to go into the consulting business.

Consulting for me is almost equal to prostitution. But maybe I'm just affected by people who didn't dare go out in the real world. People who prefer producing worthless articles to being judged by tangible results. I bring myself to flip through my address book once again.

"Hi, Daniel. Do you need more excellent people?" "Like whom? Like me."

"I'm flattered. So what is my next step? When should I fly to meet with the partner in charge?"