It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [102]
“So don’t say a thing. There is no need. I understand.”
He sits quietly for a few seconds. “No. It should be said. Alex, I’m six years older than you. I reached where I am the hard way, nobody gave me any gifts. Especially not you. You made me sweat like no other boss. But in the past eight years I’ve gotten used to thinking about you as my father. Don’t smile. I’m serious.
“I knew that you were there watching and caring about me. Not like a hen helping when it’s not needed, but the opposite. Allowing me to grow, to make mistakes, but ready to guide me whenever I needed direction.
“I knew that no matter what happened, you would be there making sure that I found the way to put things back on track. You can’t imagine what a good feeling it is to know it. Thank you, Alex.
“Okay, I said it. Please don’t answer back.”
What can I answer?
When the signing ceremony is over, Granby signals me to stay. People leave the boardroom one-by-one, or in small groups. Everybody is leaving in a good mood. It’s a real win-win deal.
Finally, it is only Granby, Trumann, Doughty and me. Just the four of us in this large, luxurious room. We sit down in one corner. We all worked hard on this deal, it’s as if we want this moment to last a little longer.
“Congratulations, Alex,” Granby says. “I wanted to thank you personally. You turned a fiasco into a big victory. It’s much easier to retire knowing that I’m leaving a solid company behind. Thank you, again.”
“Hear, hear,” they say.
After a little while Granby asks, “How is Pressure-Steam doing? When can we move on that deal?”
“It’s too early to tell,” I answer. “They are doing well, but as long as we don’t understand the full impact, it’s very difficult to construct a reasonable proposal.”
They don’t seem concerned. “Can you elaborate?” Brandon asks.
“Everything is moving according to plan, no real surprises. They’ve already got four major new accounts, and their proposals are being seriously considered by another dozen or so companies.
“The problem now is more controlling the process. It’s a fine balance between getting more accounts and making sure that no bottlenecks pop up.”
“I can imagine that everybody who uses pressure steam is watching those new accounts with a hawk’s eye,” Granby comments.
“More or less,” I agree. “That’s why it’s so crucial to move prudently. Any serious slip-up and the competitors will blow it out of proportion. They aren’t laughing at our approach any more. They’re starting to panic.”
“They should,” Brandon says. “I still don’t understand how you pulled it off. Yes, we went over all your trees. Forty-seven negative branches. Over one hundred obstacles. I’ve never seen such meticulous planning.”
“What do you want? We didn’t have time for mistakes, so we had to spend extra time planning!” I tease him. “Yes, I agree. Stacey and her people have done a remarkable job.
“I particularly admire how they timed the reduction in their regional spare parts’ inventory with the increase in equipment they had to put on the new clients’ sites. They didn’t need even one cent from UniCo. It was a masterpiece of synchronization.”
“What impresses me the most,” Granby comments, “is how they built their field maintenance force. Taking on board the best maintenance people of their clients as part of the deal was ingenious. It solved so many problems for everyone, in one fell swoop. Impressive.”
I smile. Because of our hiring freeze, I had to fight Granby to the hilt on this exact point. He probably doesn’t remember it anymore.
“So, when do you think we can resume negotiations?” Jim asks.
“I don’t know, it’s really too early to tell. At some point we’ll have to decide, but not now, that’s for sure.”
“I think that about two months from now we should have a good idea what market share we can capture,” Brandon speculates. “Maybe then?”
Granby turns to me, “Is that so?”
“Brandon is right. By that time Stacey will probably have exhausted all her spare capacity. Progress will be dependent on the rate she can train more engineers. Maybe we’ll have to steal them from